


Slices of Life

by AnnaTheHank



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, Gen, Kid Fic, M/M, hank is a tired dad, kid AU, they are adopted not biological, what was he thinking i don't know
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-29
Updated: 2019-05-09
Packaged: 2019-07-20 11:10:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 36
Words: 32,281
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16136012
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnnaTheHank/pseuds/AnnaTheHank
Summary: Lieutenant Hank Anderson adopts three children. It goes as well as you would expect.





	1. Harness

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys~ This is a sereis of short fics. It ranges from ages 3 (when they are adopted) to 18. Maybe more if I go into it. It's not in order, cause I always write things out of order for this. But I'll post the ages of the kids at the start of each chapter.  
> So, let's start, with age 3

Hank admitted he was a hypocrite. He judged all those parents he saw, walking around with kids on leashes. But, now, hank had three. That’s one more than hands he had. And, well, a dad’s gotta do what a dad's gotta do.

Taking the kids to the park always meant a load of caffeine in the morning. Luckily, his favorite walk-up coffee shop was on their route.

“Cute kids hank,” the barista said, smiling at them.

“Make it a triple espresso,” Hank said, “One for each of them.

The barista rose an eyebrow. Hank glanced down at the kids. Connor was off to the left, sucking on his sleeve and staring across the street. Kara was to the right, bouncing her baby doll up and down in the air. And Markus was...missing?

“Jesus Christ,” Hank said. The kid had somehow gotten out of his harness and had tied it to a bench to make it seem like he was still there, providing tension on the leash.

Hank knelt down next to Kara. “You seen where your brother went?” He asked.

Kara shook her head. She was crying. “Daddy, Alice has a boo-boo”

“Alice is just a doll,” Hank said, “She can’t get boo-boo’s”

“You have to kiss it,” Kara insisted. “To make it better.”

Hank looked into her big, round eyes and sighed. “Where does it hurt?”

“Hewe,” Kara said, holding up her hand,

Hank gave it a kiss. ‘There/ Happy?”

“Al bettew,” Kara said, smiling to the doll.

Hank turned to Connor, lightly stroking the back of the kid’s head. “Hey, Connor, you seen Markus anywhere.”

Eyes fixated far away, Connor raised his free arm and pointed across the street. Hank’s vision bolted in that direction, but all that was there was a dog, sitting next to his owner and eating the fries she handed it.

“Doggwy,” Connor said, his voice muffled through his sleeve.

“Yeah,” Hanks said, standing up. “I know, kid.”

Hank scanned the street. Now, he thought, if I was a breakaway little kid intent on making my life miserable, where would I go? Then he spotted it, just a little bit away, on the street corner, was a candy shop.

“Of course. C’mon guys.”

Hank picked the two good children up into his arms and jogged down the road. Markus was inside the shop, climbing a shelf, reaching up into a candy jar. A worker was trying to talk him down.

“This yours?” The worker asked.

“Yeah,’ Hank said. “Sorry.”

He sat Conner and Kara down and lifted Markus off the shelf.

“Noo,” Markus cried. “We want the candy.”

“Well you don’t get any candy,” Hank said.

Markus gasped, turning his big eyes to Hank. “No candy?’ He asked.

Hank Wasn't going to let those round, tearful eyes get to him. “No sweets at all.”

Markus gasped again. “But, bu why?”

“You know why.” Hank put Markus on the ground and re-attached the harness. He stood his kids in a row and stared them down. “What’s the number one rule we have when we’re out?”

Kara raised her hand, “Don't let Alice get sick?’

Hank shook his head. “No kara.”

Connor hummed through his sleeve. Hank reached over and pulled the fabric out of the boy’s mouth. 

“Pet all the doggies,” Connor said.

Hank gently placed the sleeve back into the boy’s mouth. “No.” He turned his attention to the troublemaker. “Any guesses, Markus?”

Markus pursed his lips and glanced around the room. “Uh...eat candy?”

Hank hung his head and sighed. “Say it with me,” he prompted.

“Stick together,” all three kids said in unison.

“See, you guys know it,” Hank said, standing up. “Why can’t you just follow it?” He turned to the store owner. “Sorry for the trouble.”

“Oh don’t worry about it,” the owner said. “It seems like you’ve got your hands full.

Hank let the kids lead him out of the store. “You have no idea”


	2. A new crush

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> age 16

Hank studied the teen from the doorway. Markus sat hunched over his desk, scowling, and scribbling.

“Look, “ Hank said. “Is this about a girl?”

“No!” Markus shot back.

Hank nodded. “Is this about a boy?”

Makus didn’t respond. His hand stopped moving.

“Ah.” Hank moved in and sat down on the bed. “Alright, dish.”

Markus was silent for a while. Then he swiveled around in his chair, the look of absolute adoration on his face.

“His name's Simon.”

“Solid name.”

“And, I think ‘i'm in love with him.”

“So, what’s the problem?”

“It’s just, I’m the football star you know? Everyone expects me to date the head cheerleader, and be, like prom king and queen and all that stuff. And like, I like North, don't’ get me wrong, but she’s just a friend you know. But everyone keeps pushing us to date and I just, you know...Simon.”

Hank smiled a little bit. Markus hadn’t been talking to him much lately, he had actually missed the kid’s voice.’

“What should I do?” Markus asked.

“If you spend your whole life following other people's expectations, you’ll never be happy,” Hank told him. “Yeah, people may be pressuring you to date North, but people also pressured you to steal test answers in middle school. You stood your ground, And I...was proud of you. I think you need to do the same thing here.”

"You think I should tell Simon I love him.?”

“I think that if you don’t, I will.”

Markus smiled and Hank stood up. He gave his son a pat on the shoulder as he walked out of the room. He was getting pretty good at this dad stuff.


	3. Coffee

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Age 15

“Why don’t you get me that soda, dipshit,” Gavin said, laughing.

Oh Connor don't’” North whispered

“Okay,” Connor said. He reached over to the table and picked up the soda, holding it out to the older boy.

Gavin laughed. “What a fucking loser.” His friends laughed with him and they walked past Connor, Gavin slamming into his shoulder.

Connor stood there, his arm extended, looking confused at the spot where Gavin had been. North could practically see the gears turning in his head, trying to see where he went wrong.

“That's it,” she said, pushing up from the table. “Hey, Gavin.” She grabbed the soda out of Connor’s hand and walked up to the teen.

“What?” Gavin sneered.

“I believe you asked for a soda,” North said. “And you deserve to get it.”

Gavin started to respond but he didn’t have the time before North dumped the soda over his head. Those at the tables nearby snickered.

“Oops,” North said, pursing her lips. “Sorry.” She turned back around and patted Connor on the arm.

Gavin stood there, steaming and grumbling. “You’ll pay for that!” he shouted.

“Ooh,” North said. “I’m so scared.”


	4. Kidergarden

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Age 5

As soon as they arrived at kindergarten, Markus and Kara raced away. Markus immediately found a sheet of paper and some finger paints. Kara was sitting in a group of other children who’s sole focus seemed to be their dolls. Only Connor remained, holding Hank’s hand, slowly chewing on his sleeve.

Hank sighed and knelt down next to the tyke. “Remember what we talked about this morning, Kiddo?” He said.

Connor just stared at him with his big eyes. 

Hank gently pulled the sleeve from Connor’s mouth. “We were going to try not putting everything in your mouth.”

Connor made a little squeak. He looked down at his arms, which Hank held and his eyes teared up.

“I thought you’d react like this,” Hank said. He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a lollipop. Connor’s eyes lit up. “Now, I’m only giving you this so that you don’t lick anything else okay?”

He handed the candy to Connor. Connor looked at the candy, then at his free hand, and back again. Hank cursed when the child stuck his sleeve back in his mouth.

“Alright,” Hank said. “Just, don’t eat anyone else's things okay?” He thought about it for a second. “And definitely don’t lick other kids, okay?”

Connor, now staring off into the corner, simply nodded. “Good.” Hank stood up and moved towards the door. Connor made a muffled noise and grabbed his leg.

Hank gently shook his leg, trying to dislodge the kid. “Connor, come on. I gotta go to work.”

That’s when Rose, the teacher, noticed the pair.

“Lt. Anderson,” she greeted. 

“Hi Rose,” Hank said. “We're just having some attachment issues.”

Rose knelt on the ground and smiled at Connor. “You must be Connor.”

Connor hid his face in Hank’s pant leg.

“I’m really sorry,” Hank said. “He’s just really shy.”

Rose nodded at him. “No need to apologize. Connor?” The boy peeked out at her. “I have these really pretty blocks over here.” Rose nodded in the direction of the colored letter blocks that sat in the middle of the rug. Connor eyed them curiously. “Would you like to play with them?”

Connor whined a little. He looked up at Hank, his eyes unsure. Hank nodded at him. Slowly, very slowly, so slowly that Hank kept checking his watch, certain he would be late, Connor crept away from Hank’s leg and started playing with the blocks.

“Thank you,” Hank whispered to Rose as he left the little classroom.


	5. The truth about Connor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Age 5

Hank sat in his chair and stared at Rose. “Autistic?” He said. “No, Connor’s not autistic. He’s just..ya know...Connor.”

“I don’t claim to be an expert, Lieutenant. But Connor has been showing signs of autism. I think it would be a good idea for you to take him to a professional and have him looked at.”

“Signs?” Hank asked. “Like what?”

“Connor has been here for a week and refuses to interact with the other children. And he only rarely talks to his siblings.”

“He’s just shy.”

“He also is slow to respond to his name and other verbal clues.”

“So he’s just distracted.” Hank stood up from his chair, fully intent on just walking out of the room.

“He spent two hours yesterday arranging the toy army soldiers in perfectly straight lines and then had a complete meltdown when another child ruined it.”

“Well, I’d certainly get upset if someone ruined my two hours of hard work.”

“Lieutenant.”

Hank sighed and sat back down. “There’s nothing wrong with Connor.”

“I”m not saying there is.” Rose opened her desk drawer and pulled out an informational pamphlet. “Just look this over. I know an excellent therapist who could help Connor adjust.”

“He doesn’t need to adjust,” Hank said, folding the pamphlet into his coat pocket and getting up to go again.

“About One in sixty children develop some form of Autism, Lieutenant,” Rose called out as Hank was at the door. “Your children are not exempt from that.”

Hank grumbled and tried his best not to slam the door.


	6. First Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Age 13

“Thanks for the ride, Dad,” Kara said, opening the door.

“Yes, Mr. Anderson,” Luther said. “We appreciate it.”

“Uh-huh,” Hank said, squinting at the pre-teen boy in the back seat. Luther gulped and followed Kara into the movie theater.

 

“Huh.” Hank sat in front of the theater, watching the two disappear into the crowd. His attention was jolted away by an insistent clicking noise. Connor, sitting in the passenger seat, was flicking the door lock back and forth. “How do you feel about seeing a movie, Connor?”

Connor craned his head forward and focused on the marquee, reading the movies playing. “Can we see Blood Zombies 3?”

“Have you even seen the first two?” Hank asked.

Connor shook his head. “Markus told me they were good.”

Hank leaned back in his seat and studied the boy. “When did Markus see them?’

Connor’s eyes opened wide. He didn’t respond.

Hank sighed, shook his head, and pulled the car into a parking spot. “I was thinking we could go see Wasted Love.”

Connor sat in his seat and crinkled his eyebrows. “Isn’t...isn’t that the movie that Kara and Luther are going to?”

“You’ll understand when it’s your kid,” Hank said, opening the door and getting out.

Hank and Connor found a seat four rows back from where Kara and Luther were. Hank had bought Connor a bag of popcorn, a small soda, and a box of candy. Mostly to keep him quiet.

“Why are we spying on them again?” Connor asked, leaning over to Hank as the screen lit up.

“Shh,” Hank told him. “The movie’s starting.”

Connor settled back into his seat and crunched on his popcorn. Hank leaned forward and trained his eyes on the two pre-teens ahead of him. Luther held the popcorn bag on his lap and Kara reached over to grab a handful. Classic move, Hank thought to himself. He was disliking this Luther more and more.

Something happened on the screen that Hank missed, but it must have been pretty funny by how Connor laughed.

“Shhh,” Someone from behind them said.

Connor clamped his mouth shut and sank down into his seat. Hank leaned over. “It’s okay, Connor,” he said. “Laugh as loud as you want.”

But he could see that Connor was no longer there, he had checked out, watching the top corner of the screen with disinterest, still eating his popcorn, but in a slow, methodical pace. Hank wanted to punch whoever had told him to shush, but he had little time to think.

Right before him, Luther was stretching. Oh but he wasn’t stretching, Hank knew. He watched as Luther’s arm slipped around the air, wrapping itself around Kara’s shoulder. He watched Kara move into his embrace.

“That’s it,” he whispered to himself. He stole a handful of popcorn from Connor’s bag and tossed it at Luther, sprinkling the other audience members with the aftermath.

“What the?” Kara and Luther both looked back. Hank tried to hide in his seat but it was too late. It was worth it though, he thought, as Luther moved his arm away.

“Dad?” Kara asked. “Connor? What are you doing here?”

A light shined on Hank and his son. A theater employee frowned at them. “I’m going to have to ask you to leave, sir.”

“Yeah, that’s fair,” Hank said. He stood up. “C’mon Connor, let’s go.” Connor didn’t move. Hank sighed, grabbed the boy’s arm, and led him out to the lobby. They were joined shortly by Luther and a very pissed off Kara.

“I can’t believe you!” Kara yelled as they walked outside. It had started to rain. “I’m so sorry Luther,” she said. “My dad’s an idiot.”  
“You kids wait here,” Hank said, defeated. “I’ll get the car.”

“It’s okay,” Luther said. “You should have seen my mom as I was getting ready. She was a nervous wreck.”

Neither of them were paying attention to Connor, who was standing by the door where Hank had left him, swaying softly. The door opened and pre-teen boy, laughing at something, knocked into Connor.

“Watch it, retard,” the boy said. 

Kara pulled Connor to him. Luther stepped up the boy.

“Hey,” Luther said. “Apologize.”

The boy laughed in his face. “For what? Calling it like I see it.”

“I mean it,” Luther said.

“Why don’t you make me?” The boy asked.

Without hesitation, Luther pulled back his arm and punched the boy in the face. The boy grabbed his nose in his arm and backed away, cursing. “What the fuck?”

“Apologies,” Luther said.

“Fuck, fine. Sorry.” The boy held his bloody nose in his hand and went back into the theater.

“What the hell is going on here?” Hank asked from the car, watching the boy run away.

“He called Connor a retard,” Kara explained. She was rubbing Connor's arm, and the Connor that was inside there was slowly coming back to the light.

“So you punched him?” Hank asked, turning his gaze to Luther.

Luther shrugged. “He deserved it.”

“He really did,” Kara said.

Hank tried to suppress his smile. “Well, let’s get out of here before anyone notices.”

Kara helped Connor into the front seat and joined Luther in the back. Hank said nothing when they held hands. Maybe this Luther kid would work out after all.


	7. Caught

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Age 17

“We’re home,” Hank called out, holding the door for Connor and Kara as they carried the groceries in. 

Hank heard a slam, and a creak, before Markus, panting and clearly blushed, appeared at the doorway to the living room. “You guys were, uh, quick,” he said.

Hank eyed him. “Yeah well it wasn’t sample day,” he said.

Markus gave him a little smile and a nervous laugh. 

“Why don’t you two put the groceries away,” Hank suggested, handing his bags to Kara. 

“Ohhh someone's in trouble,” Kara said, giggling as she led Connor into the kitchen.

Markus kept his little smile up as Hank walked past him. A half-eaten bowl of chips was on the table, bookended by two bottles of soda.

“Thirsty were we?” Hank asked.

“Oh, uh, yeah. I just, went to get more chips, and thought I had finished mine, and just, grabbed a new one.”

Hank smirked at him. “And then drank from the new one instead of finishing the old one?”

Markus shrugged. “I’m wasteful what can I say.”

Hank grunted and moved further into the room. One of the couch pillows had fallen on the floor. Hank reached down and picked it up, placing it purposefully on the couch while maintaining eye contact with his son.

Markus seemed to shiver a bit, and bit his lip. Hank studied his face. Markus was sweating. Hank narrowed his eyes. Markus chuckled nervously. 

“What?” Markus asked.

And there it was, a little flick of his eyes.

Hank smiled victoriously at Marcus and sauntered over to the old wardrobe that was in the corner of the room, more of a decoration piece than anything they actually used. He opened one side. “Hi there, Simon.”

The teen stepped out, his head hung low, avoiding eye contact. “Hi, Mr. Anderson.”

Hank ordered the boy over to Markus. They both stood there, blushing, and nervous. He studied them both. He could see a red mark on Simon’s neck, but it looks like things hadn’t escalated too far before they returned home. He wondered how often Markus had snuck Simon over whenever Hank took Kara and Connor somewhere. He wouldn’t even be surprised if his brother and sister were helping him do it when just Hank was gone.

“We’re sorry okay,” Simon said, unable to handle the intense gaze any longer.

Hank said nothing, raising an eye at Markus.

“Nothing happened,” Markus said. 

“But it would have,” Hank suggested.

“No!” Simon said, quickly. Markus looked over at him. “No,” Simon said, much quieter.

“Ohhhh,” Kara said from the entrance to the hall. “You guys are so busted.”

“Get out of here,” Markus said. “It’s none of your business.”

Kara walked away, giggling. Hank opened his mouth to say something, but Connor appeared.

“Dad?” He said.

“Yes?” Hank asked. Connor was silent. “Yes, Connor, what did you want to ask?”

“Oh. Can I have some of those cookies?” He asked.

“Those are for after dinner.”

“But, you said I could have one.”

“Yes,” Hank said. “After dinner.”

Connor squinted, trying to remember the conversation. Hank sighed. “Just, go ahead.”

“Thanks.”

Hank turned his attention back to the troublemaker and his boyfriend.

“You guys know the rules,” Hank said. “Simon is welcome anytime as long as I’m here and doors are open. Now, if you can’t follow those two, what I think are very simple rules, then maybe we’ll have to re-think this whole arrangement.”

“That’s not fair,” Markus said. “Luther’s over all the time when you’re gone. Why should I get punished just cause we got caught?”

“You traitor!” Kara called out, racing into the room.

The two started arguing, and Hank got an instant headache. At least Simon was being good and quiet.

“Alright, alright,” Hank said. “That’s enough!”

Kara and Markus both stood up straight, quiet, facing him. 

“You’re both grounded,” Hank said. “One month.”

“One month?” The siblings asked in unison.

“Dad that’s insane,” Markus said.

“During this time Luther and Simon are not allowed over,” Hank said.

“You can’t do that!” Kara said.

“I’m the dad,” Hank told her. “I can do what I want.”

“We’re seventeen,” Kara said. “You can’t just stop us from having relationships.”

“You wanna bet?” Hank said.

Kara pursed her lips and huffed, crossing her arms over her chest.

Simon raised his hand. The kid actually raised his hand. Hank loved him. “Yes, Simon?”

“Is Markus allowed to come over to my house?”

Hank shook his head and Simon looked down, clearly trying not to cry.

“You guys can still hang out,” Hank said. “Just in public spaces.

“This is stupid,” Kara said, storming out of the room.

“I guess this is goodbye,” Markus said turning to Simon.

“Don’t be so melodramatic,” Simon said, beating Hank to the punch. It was so hard to be mad at that kid. “It’s only a month, and we’ll see each other at school and practice and stuff.”

“Yeah, I guess.” Markus grabbed Simon’s hand, their palms touching, and moved in to kiss him.

Hank let them have their moment, averting his gaze.

“Good-bye Mr. Anderson,” Simon said.

“See ya, kid,” Hank said.

“I hate you,” Markus said, once Simon was gone.

Hank nodded. “Good.”

Markus rolled his eyes and left the room. Hank sighed and sank down into the couch. He closed his eyes and grumbled “kids.” He felt a presence next to him and peeked over to see Connor, not really eating the giant cookie he had, just kind of sucking on the edge of it.

“Well, one out of three ain’t bad right?” Hank asked.

“Hmm?” Connor asked, turning his gaze to him.

“Never mind,” Hank said, pulling his son into a side hug.


	8. A new friend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Age 5

Hank knelt down next to Connor and rubbed the kid's arm. “Remember what we talked about last night?” He asked. “What are we going to do today?”

Connors attention circled around the room. “Um,” he said.

“We’re going to try and make a friend, right?” Hank tried to catch the boy’s attention, but Connor wasn’t looking at him. Hank sighed and readjusted his stance. He placed a hand on his son’s back and looked out at the room full of kids. Mostly everyone was grouped together in small areas, sharing toys and stories. 

Only one other kid played alone. If Hank had the option, he probably wouldn’t choose the little girl with the blocks that was clearly ignoring the “no stacking higher than your knees” sign posted right next to her. But, the kid was the only one who was singled out, and Hank wasn't about to try and make Connor interact with a whole group.

“How about her,” Hank suggested, pointing Connor in her direction. 

Connor’s attention drifted for a little bit before finally landing on the girl. “Um,” he said.

“I’ll take that as a yes.” Hank stood up and gently corralled Connor in the little girl’s direction.

The girl noticed Connor slowly slink his way up to her. “Hi,” she said, her blue eyes brightening.

“Um,” Connor said. The girl looked at him with concern. Connor looked back at Hank, who gave him a thumbs up and an encouraging nod. “My name is Connor,” he said, shouted really. “I’m Lieutenant Anderson’s son.”

The girl leaned away from Connor a bit. “Uhm. I’m Chloe,” she said. She glanced over at Hank. “Elijah Kamski’s daughter?”

The two stood there in silence. Hank bit his lip, waiting for one of them to speak.

“Okay,” Connor said, practically yelled again. He started to walk away. Hank sighed.

“Connor,” Chloe said. Connor kept walking away. Hank motioned to the child to turn around. He did. “I’m trying to get this stack to reach the ceiling. Do you wanna help?”

Connor nodded and dropped to the floor. He started moving the blocks already in place, making them so they were straight and perfectly aligned.

“Good idea,” Chloe said. “With a stronger base, it won’t fall over as often.”

Hank smiled at the two of them.


	9. A good Liar

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Age 17

Connor entered the house, heard the television on, and went into the living room to investigate. Kara and Luther were sitting on the couch, watching some kind of movie. Connor looked at them and blinked. They hadn’t noticed he was there.

“I thought Dad said Luther wasn’t allowed to come over,” Connor said. The two teens jumped and looked back at him.

“Shit,” Kara said. “It’s uh, not what it looks like, Connor. Dad said this one time it was okay.”

Connor wrinkled his forehead. “I don’t...I don’t think that’s true.”

Kara sighed and looked at Luther. “We can’t ask him to lie for us right?” Luther shook his head. “I didn’t think so.”

Connor stood to the side as Luther said good-bye and left. Kara, with a frown on her face, walked upstairs to her room saying, “I guess I’ll go prepare myself for future punishment.”

That night, as the family was preparing dinner, Hank asked his usual, “how was everyone’s day?”

“Peachy,” Markus said, scowling, still upset at the most recent of punishments.

“It was okay,” Kara said, already resigned to her fate.

Connor remained silent. Kara and Hank both eyed him.

“What about you, Connor?” Hank asked. “Didn’t you and Chloe go to the mall after school today.”

Connor just nodded, not really looking at anyone or anything in particular.

Oh no, Kara thought. Hank always knew how to tell when Connor wanted to say something, but wasn’t. And he always found a way to make him talk.

“You sure there’s nothing else you want to say?” Hank asked, trying to make eye contact with the teen.

Connor nodded, glanced at Kara. Hank raised an eyebrow and positioned himself to face the boy in full force. Kara held her breath.

“I licked a marker!” Connor blurted out. Everyone in the room studied him with intent. “I’m sorry,” he added. His voice dropped to a whisper. “It smelled like raspberries.”

“I’m guessing it didn’t taste like raspberries did it?” Hank asked. 

Connor shook his head. Kara let out her breath. “No. It tasted like cardboard. And the color pink.”

Hank just smiled and shook his head. “Just don’t lick anymore more markers. Got it?”

“Got it,” Connor said.

As they moved into the dining room to eat, Kara pulled Connor aside.

“You didn’t have to do that,” she said. 

“I know,” Connor said. “But I wanted to.” He fidgeted with his sleeves. “I like Luther. I want him to come around more often.”

Kara smiled. “You and me both, bro.”


	10. Tea Party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Age 5

The doorbell rang and Kara squealed, racing to the door. Hank slowly lifted himself off the couch, leaving Markus and Connor cuddled under the blanket, watching cartoons.

“Hi Daniel,” Kara said, opening the door. The young man, glancing nervously around the room, stepped in. 

“Hi Kara,” he said, his voice soft. He looked up at Hank. “Sir.”

“No need to be so formal, kid,” Hank said. 

“Did you bring Emma?” Kara asked. She pulled out Alice, her own baby doll, and held her up.

Daniel hummed and fidgeted with the doll behind his back. He glanced over at Hank, then to the living room where Markus was watching them over the back of the couch. “Yes.”

“Don’t worry,” Hank said, placing a hand on Daniel’s shoulder and leading the two kids into the playroom. “There’s no judgment here.”

Hank had spent that morning setting up a tea party for the kids. He had bribed Markus and Conner with a day of cartoons if they promised not to destroy everything. He had set up little banners, had gone out and bought a little fake-china set, and had done a deep clean of their table so it was no longer covered in bits of food and paint.

Kara gasped when she walked inside. “Daddy, it’s so pretty.”

“It looks very good, sir,” Daniel said, his voice still soft.

“Right, well,” Hank coughed. “I’ll leave you to it.”

“Aren’t you going to stay and play with us?” Kara asked. Hank looked longingly at the couch. Then he looked down at Kara’s eyes. She grabbed his sleeve and tugged. “Please?”

Hank sighed. “Yeah, alright.”

Hank, Kara, and Daniel sat down at the table. Hank’s knees were already starting to hurt. Alice and Emma got their own little doll chairs.

“Sugar with your tea, Mr. Daniel?” Kara asked, pouring the air from the teapot into his cup.

“Yes, Please,” Daniel said. Hank fidgeted in his seat, trying to find a balance between the small chair and the air around it.

“And how does Ms. Emma like her tea?” Kara asked, pouring what Hank thought was too much air.

“She likes it straight,” Daniel said. 

Kara smiled and poured tea out for herself, Alice, and Hank.

“Emma must be a pretty tough one to take straight tea,” Hank said, letting Kara place two lumps of air into his cup.

“She has to be,” Daniel said, adjusting Emma’s seat. “Otherwise people will hurt her.”

“Huh,” Hank said, studying the young boy. 

“Emma is Daniel’s best friend,” Kara said, taking a little sip from her cup. “Just like Alice is mine.”

Hank smiled at the two of them. Then he noticed the slight purple marking on Daniels back, peaking out just below the collar of his shirt. Hank watched the two kids pretend to be royalty, drinking with their pinkies up and all that jazz, while he formulated his plan of attack. There had to be a way to suss out what Daniel’s home life was like without worrying the child.

“So, Emma,” Hank said, addressing the doll. “Do you like living at Daniel’s house?”

The three living heads turned towards the doll. Kara leaned over slightly to Hank. “Daddy, are you feeling alright?”

Hank smiled at her. 

“She’s okay there,” Daniel answered for the doll. “It’s better than where she was before.” Daniel reached over and flatten downed her hair. “I found her in a dumpster.”

“Well,” Hank said. “That was very kind of you to take care of her.”

“Someone has to,” Daniel said.

Hank nodded and watched the kids play. He drank tea with them and then walked Daniel to the door when his mother arrived to pick him up. He watched at the woman, dressed in long sleeves and wearing a pair of sunglasses in the clouds, twitched a bit and walked him down to the car.

Kara giggled about the best day ever and went to watch tv with her brothers. Hank went to look up a phone number.


	11. Trouble Sleeping

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Age 5

Hank didn’t want to look at what time it was. He felt a small presence climb its way into his bed, snuggling up against his back.

“Connor,” Hank said, turning around to face the child, “we talked about this.”

“Can’t sweep,” Connor said. He nudged his way under Hank’s arm, cuddling into his side.

“Connor,” Hank said with a sigh. “You’ve got to sleep in your own bed.” 

“Can’t,” Connor said.

Hank groaned. He didn’t want to make Connor uncomfortable, but the therapist had said that it was important for him to get used to sleeping in his own bed. Something about how coddling him would only make him less independent blah blah blah.

“C’mon,” Hank said, rolling out of bed. Connor whimpered. Hank lifted him up, the little tyke was getting kind of heavy, and carried him down the hall to his and Markus’ room.

Markus was dead asleep in his bed, snoring. Hank settled Connor down in his bed, the one with the space sheets he had bought to try and get Connor excited about his bed. Connor was crying silently.

“Alright, alright? Move over.” Hank shoveled the kid to the side and laid down between him and the wall. “I’ll stay here till you fall asleep, okay?”

Connor cuddled into Hanks body. Hank shifted himself, his arm starting to fall asleep. Before he knew it, he, too, was asleep.

“Are we having a sleepover in Connor’s bed?” Hank heard.

Hank creaked open his eyes. Markus was sitting up in bed, looking over at the two of them.

“No,” Hank said, “I was just helping Connor fall asleep.” He looked down. The child was currently hugging his arm, there was no way he was getting out of that without waking him up.

“I wanna play,” Markus said. He got out of bed and raced over them.

“Hey, hey,” Hank said softly. “Quietly. Don’t wake your brother.”

Markus gently climbed into the bed. Hank did his best to shift back, but there really wasn’t much room. Markus settled on the other side of Connor, wrapping his arms around the other boy. He giggled a little before falling right back to sleep.

Hank felt his eyes closing again before hearing, “Daddy?”

He looked around the room. The sound was coming from the hallway. Kara’s head soon peaked into the room.

“Daddy, Alice had a nightmare.”

Of course, she did, Hank thought. “Well, C'mon,” he said.

Alice smiled and climbed into the bed. There really wasn’t much room for her. She placed Alice in the small space between Hank and Connor and then crawled onto Hank’s side, her head resting on his shoulder. 

“Night-Night, Daddy,” she said in a yawn.

“Night,” Hank said with a sigh.

He looked around at his kids. He would be sore and bruised in the morning, of that he was sure, but it was worth it.


	12. Nose Kiss

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Age 16

“Simon!” Markus said, calling out to the teen boy across the crowd of students.

Simon turned around, holding his books across his legs, smiling slightly at him. Markus caught up to him and the stood against the wall, letting the crowd of people swarm around them.

“Hi,” Simon said. That one word alone was enough to make Markus want to cry with joy. 

“Yeah,” Markus said. “Uh, hi.”

The two stood in silence.

“Was there something you wanted to tell me?” Simon asked.

“Huh?” Markus said. He was too busy staring at the endless blue of the other boy’s eyes.

“You called out to me from the other side of the hallway,” Simon explained. He looked down, a smile playing at the edge of his lips. “Thought maybe that meant you had something to say.”

“Oh,” Markus said. “Uh, yes, I did.”

There was another silence.

Simon looked away, frowning a bit. “This is about the text isn’t it?” He asked. He sighed. 

“No,” Markus said. “NO! That was, no, that has nothing to do with, no.”

“So then, what’s up?”

“I uh,” Markus rubbed the back of his neck nervously, he could feel himself starting to sweat. Simon had already agreed to go out with him, why was he so nervous? “I was wondering, if maybe, you know, if you weren’t busy today, we could, uh, go hang out somewhere.”

Simon smiled. Markus forgot to breathe.

“Yeah. I mean, I’ve gotta be home for dinner, but,” Simon shrugged, “I’m free now.”

“Good,” Markus said. “Uh, here.” He reached over and grabbed Simon’s books. “We can go hang out at my place, yeah?”

Simon nodded. 

 

It was the perfect day to have Simon over. Connor was out with Chloe, something about shopping for a homecoming outfit, and Kara had a planned outing with her “little sister” Alice. And with Hank still at work, the two had the place to themselves.

“Wow,” Simon said, browsing the shelves by the television. “You guys have a lot of movies.”

“Yeah,” Markus said, setting the chips and soda down on the table.

“How about this?” Simon asked, pulling a case down. He showed it to Markus. It was “Boyfriend of Dream”, a gay rom-com that North had bought him as a joke gift last year. Markus nodded, already nervous and now completely anxiety-ridden.

Markus set the movie up, and then the two sat down on the couch, their arms touching. Markus couldn’t even concentrate on the movie, focusing only on the slight movements and frictions that Simon made whenever he reached to grab a drink or a handful of chips.

“You okay?” Simon asked, looking over at him. “You’re all stiff.”

Markus nearly choked on his soda, spitting some of it out. He swallowed hard and shook his head. “No, I’m fine,” he wheezed. “Uh, just a little cold.”

“Oh, well, here.” Simon reached behind them and pulled down the throw blanket, laying across the two of them.

“That’s, better,” Markus said.

Simon smiled at him and then leaned against his arm, his head resting on Markus’ shoulder. Markus did his best not to move, fearing even a slight intake of air would disrupt the other boy and cause him to move away.

Simon shifted his position, sitting up on the couch and looking directly at Markus. “What’s wrong?” he asked. “Seriously?”

Markus didn’t respond. He couldn’t stop staring at Simon’s nose, how it was so cute, and soft. Without thinking, Markus leaned forward and kissed the tip of Simon’s nose. Then he realized what he was doing, snapped back, and blushed.

“Sorry,” Markus said. “That was uh, weird.”

Simon’s smile was the cutest that Markus had ever seen. “Don’t apologize,” Simon said. “Just don’t miss next time.”

“What?” Markus asked.

Simon grabbed the back of Markus’ head and pulled him forward, placing a soft kiss to his lips. “That’s how you kiss someone,” he said, pulling away and chuckling. “Just in case you didn’t know.”


	13. Father's Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Age 6

Kara and Connor stood behind Markus, who was standing on a chair in front of the stove.

“Uh, Markus,” Kara said. “I don’t think we should be doing this.”

“Why not?” Markus asked, looking over his shoulder. “You’re the one who wanted to make Dad breakfast.”

“I meant like, cereal or something,” Kara said.

Connor mumbled a little bit.

“Connor’s right,” Kara added. “We’re not allowed to play with fire.”

“We’re not playing with fire,” Markus said, placing the pan down on the stove. “We’re cooking with it.”

“I don’t think Dad will see it that way,” Kara said.

“DOn’t worry,” Markus told her. “He can’t be mad at us, we’re making him breakfast. NOw hand me the cooking oil.”

Kara whined a bit but handed up the bottle of vegetable oil. Markus took the cap off and dumped it into the pan, spilling some over the sides. “Oops,” he said.

Kara grabbed Connor’s arm and pulled him away from the stove. Markus leaned over and flicked the burner on. A large, blue flame rose into the air. Markus screamed, falling backward off the chair. The flame settled down. Markus stared at it. He started to cry.  
*

Hank woke up early to the sound of metal banging on metal in the kitchen. He rolled over and looked at his phone. The calendar on it reminded him it was father’s day. He sighed. The kids must be up to something. Last year he had gotten a ham and cheese sandwich. The ham had a Connor-sized bite taken out of it, the cheese had certainly been licked, and the kids had decided that ketchup would taste good on it instead of mustard. Hank was a little worried about this year.

Hank heard a whoosh and a bang. He jolted up, sitting at attention. Someone started to cry.

*

Hank rushed into the kitchen. Connor was staring out the window, watching a caterpillar crawling along the windowsill. Kara was standing to the side, her hands covering her face, her eyes shut tight. 

Markus, however, was sitting on the floor, next to a fallen chair and a full flame stove burner, crying his eyes out.

“Markus!” Hank shouted, running over. He first turned the stove off, then knelt down in front of the kid. “Markus?”

Markus was too busy crying to respond. Hank stood him up and looked him over. There didn’t seem to be any burns anywhere, the kid was probably more scared than hurt.

“Alright, alright,” Hank said. He pulled Markus into his arms and stood up. “It’s okay, calm down.” He rubbed Markus’ back and did a quick scan of the other two to make sure neither of them got hurt. Kara slowly lowered her hands, peeking out at the scene, and Markus eventually settled down.

“I’m sorry,” Markus sobbed.

“That’s alright buddy,” Hank said. He gave the kid one last pat and then set him down on the ground. “Are you okay? Did you hurt yourself?”

Markus shook his head. “No...I was just scared.”

Hank nodded. Then he switched moods. “What the hell were you thinking?”

Markus’ lip quivered, and he started crying again. Hank sighed and turned to Kara. “Care to explain?”

“We were just trying to make you breakfast. It was Markus’ idea!” She said, pointing at Markus.

“Was not!” Markus cried, pointing back at her. “You’re the one who said to make him breakfast!”

“I told you not to use the stove, idiot!”

“You said to make pancakes!”

“I mean the frozen ones!”

“That’s enough!” Hank shouted. Both of them shut their mouths and shied away from each other. Hank knelt down on the ground and pulled the two of them in front of him. “I don’t care who’s idea it was. You guys know you’re not allowed to use the stove or any other fire things unless I”m here. You could have gotten hurt.”

Markus and Kara looked down at the ground. 

“We’re sorry, Daddy,” Kara said.

“Yeah,” Markus agreed.

Hank smiled at his little daredevils and pulled them into a hug. “You guys still want pancakes?”

“But we’re supposed to make you food,” Kara said.

“Well, you can help.”

“Maybe we make the frozen ones,” Markus said, eyeing up the stove.

“Frozen pancakes it is”


	14. Graduation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Age 5

Hank thought the very idea of a kindergarten graduation was ridiculous. Spending money and time and effort on a ceremony for a group of six-year-olds was a waste. He practically said as much to Rose when she asked him to help volunteer.

“I understand how you feel,” Rose said, watching the triplets play as the adults talked. “There are many parents who feel the same way.”

“It just doesn’t make sense to celebrate mediocracy,” Hank said, crossing his arms. “Everyone makes it through kindergarten.” He shrugged. “So what’s the point?’

“Well,” Rose said, nodding towards the children. “Not everyone successfully moves onto to school. Especially not children like Connor.”

Hank frowned and nodded, watching Connor carefully stack blocks in alternating colors. 

“Besides, with Markus as our young valedictorian, it would be nice to have his dad help out.”

Hank raised his eyebrow. “Markus?” he said. “That Markus? The trouble-maker?”

Rose chuckled. “He does get into a bit of mischief. But, he is our brightest student.”

Hank mulled the idea over, his head and mouth rocking as he considered it. “Alright,” he agreed, with a huff. “I guess I could offer some help.”

Rose smiled and placed a hand on Hank’s shoulder. “You should be very proud of them, Lieutenant. They’re a good bunch.”

“Eh,” Hank said, smiling. “They’re alright.”

Two weeks later, Hank woke up to a small presence crawling its way into his bed. He rolled over, his eyes puffy with sleep, and focused his vision on Connor.

“It’s the big day, kiddo,” Hank grumbled. “You’ll need your sleep.”

Connor scooted closer and snuggled into Hank’s arm. “I’m,” Connor started. Hank stayed quiet, waiting for the child to be ready to speak. “Scared.”

Hank placed a hand on his son’s shoulder. “Hey, it’s gonna be alright. Miss Rose said you could walk across the stage with Chloe. You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”

Connor nodded his head slowly.

Hank smiled and kissed him gently on the forehead. “I’m very proud of you,” he whispered.

Connor smiled and closed his eyes. Hank placed his head against his son’s and fell back asleep.

That morning, Hank made the kids their favorite breakfast, chocolate chip pancakes, and bananas. Markus scarfed his food down so fast that Hank was afraid he was going to choke himself. Kara tried to feed half her breakfast to Alice, and Connor ate a few bites, just to satisfy Hank, even though he was too nervous to eat at all.

The three were oddly quiet as they drove down to the school. Markus didn’t even try and escape from his car seat. Hank kept glancing back at them in the mirror. Markus was mouthing something to himself, shaking his head occasionally. Kara was singing softly to Alice, and Connor was just staring out the window.

At the school, Hank was in charge of making sure that all the kids were in their caps and gowns properly. Of course, the caps were just colored cardboard and the gowns were just paper. But the kids had decorated them themselves.

Kara’s was covered with flowers and bright colors. Connor’s had a neat geometrical design that he had made using a compass and a ruler. Markus’ was a striped pattern of red and blue. Markus also happened to have his head stuck in the gown.

Hank rushed over. “Let me help ya there, buddy.” He grabbed the gown and gently moved it to the side, helping Markus slide it down on his shoulders. “There we are.”

“Thanks, dad,” Markus said. “I’m a nervous wreck.”

Hank smiled and knelt down. He picked Marcus’ hat up off the floor and placed it on his head. “You’re gonna be great, kid. He rubbed Marcus’ arms. “You really are the smartest kid I know.” He tweaked his son’s nose. “Even if it gets you into trouble most the time.”

Markus smiled, and threw his arms around Hank’s neck, hugging him tightly. Hank chuckled and hugged him back, he certainly wasn’t crying.

“Alright, kids,” Rose said, walking into the room. “It’s time to take our places.”

Hank smiled at his kids and went to the small auditorium, taking his seat among all the other misty-eyed parents. He coughed and but his lip, urging the tears to stay within.

Rose approached the little microphone and started her little speech about how proud everyone was and yadayada. Hank watched the kids sticking their heads out from the sides, some waving at their parents. The Rose started calling out names.

“Kara Anderson,” She said. She paused, giving a little chuckle. “And Alice.”  
Wearing a bright smile, Kara walked out on the stage, holding Alice, dressed in her own paper gown with her. Hank chuckled. She always was a go-getter.

“Connor Anderson,” Rose said. “And Chloe Kamski.”

Chloe walked out on stage, Connor’s hand held tightly in her grip. Hank sighed, noticing how Connor was chewing on the paper tassel that hung from his cap. His eyes started to well up in full force.

Rose called the rest of the class up before saying, “And finally, our very own valedictorian, Markus Anderson.”

Hank bit his lip, but a tear escaped anyway as Markus, back straight and strides strong, walked across the stage. Rose adjusted the microphone so he could give his speech.

“Fellow graduates!” Markus said, his yelling emphasized by the mic. “We are the future!” Rose grabbed the mic and pulled it away, His voice still booming without it. “Our choices will shape our destiny!” he looked down the line at the other kids. “From this day forth, we are free!”

There was a pause as Markus looked out at the crowd of adults. Hank stood up, clapping, and the others soon tentatively followed his lead. Markus smiled, his face beaming at his future. Hank didn’t even bother to try and hold back his tears.


	15. A boy named Simon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Age 16

Markus took his seat in the back of the classroom, right behind where North and Josh were sitting. He tossed his bag on the empty desk next to him and pulled out his notebook.

Josh leaned over the back of his seat and nudged him. “You see that game last night?” he asked.

“Are you kidding?” Markus asked. “That field goal was a fucking miracle.”

Josh chuckled and then North turned around. Markus was vaguely aware of her talking, and the Josh responding. But all sound was clogged out as Markus paid sole attention to the teen that had just walked through the classroom door. 

The boy had soft blond hair, it was cut short but wisps of it seemed to float as the boy walked up to the teacher’s desk. His eyes were a deep blue, and staring at them made Markus feel as if he was standing on the beach, looking at the endless horizon. 

The teacher looked at Markus, pointed, and said something. Markus felt like maybe he should be saying something, but all he could do was stare, slightly opened mouth, at the pure beauty that had just walked into his life. It was as if the Mona Lisa itself had just joined the class.

Josh grabbed Markus’ sleeve and pulled his arm up. Markus gasped slightly as the work of art maneuvered around the other desks towards Markus. The boy sat down and smiled at the other three.

“Hi,” he said, his voice the first clear thing Markus had ever heard in his entire life, a musical melody. “I’m Simon.”

Markus became aware of the fact that he was staring, mouth open, at this new student. “Markus,” he said, almost shouting. He shook his head, forcing himself to look away from the other boy. “My name is Markus.”

Simon smiled at him, with a slight chuckle. Markus reached across the desk and grabbed his bag, his hand brushing against the other’s arm. “Sorry,” he said. Simon smiled again, and god what a smile he had. 

Needless to say, Markus didn’t learn much that day in class.


	16. Josh the Wingman

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Age 16

Markus leaned against his locker, holding his bag to his chest, staring at the poster for the homecoming dance on the opposite wall. Josh and North approached him, North already groaning.

“Dude,” she said, “Just ask him out.”

“I can’t,” Markus said. “He’s too beautiful. He would never go out with me.”

“How do you know?” Josh asked, placing an arm around his friend’s shoulder. “He seems to like you just fine.”

“Sure,” Markus said. “As a friend maybe, as a local tour guide certainly. But as a boyfriend?” He sighed, deep and dry. “I have no chance.”

Josh shook his head and pulled away.

“I think you think too highly of him,” North said. “I mean, he’s a 7 at best.”

Markus turned to her, his face equal parts confused and angry. “A 7?” he asked. “A 7? North, Simon is a fucking 100 okay? 1000 even!”

“Maybe on a scale of 1,000,000,” North said, laughing.

“You sure you don’t wanna ask him out?” Josh asked. Markus nodded, his eyes dropping. “Well, it’s just that...ya already did.”

“What?” Markus asked turning his attention to Josh. Josh was holding Markus’ phone in his hand. Markus reflexively patted himself down, finding his phone missing from his pocket. “You stole my phone!?” He reached for it, but Josh held it out of reach. “What did you say.”

Josh, keeping a tight grip on the phone, turned the screen around to face Markus. 

“Want to go to homecomming,” Markus read. “That’s not too bad...and an Eggplant emoji!? Are you insane?”

“What?” Josh asked. “Simon strikes me as the kinda guy that would appreciate a good emoji joke.”

North nodded in agreement.

“You’ve ruined me,” Markus said, slumping against the lockers, letting his bag fall to the floor.

“Oh,” Josh said. “He’s responding.”

“I hate you so much,” Markus mumbled.

“He said yes!” Josh announced.  
Markus pushed himself away from the lockers, grabbing the phone. “Oh my god I love you,” Markus said. 

“What did he say exactly?” North asked.

Markus read the text. “Absolutely. He said absolutely.”

“ANd a winky face,” Josh said, pointing at the phone. “See? I told you he’s an emoji guy.”

Markus was too busy smiling at his phone to answer him.


	17. Prom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Age 18

Hank stood to the side as Markus, Simon, North, and Josh stood in a line. 

“Okay,” Hank said, “Everyone smile.”

Hank smirked as North put a pair of bunny ears over Josh’s head. He took the picture anyway. It was best to capture their real personalities. The doorbell rang and Hank went to get it as the four teens laughed about something.

Luther stood on the other side of the door, his suit sharp, holding a box and fidgeting with it. “Good evening, Mr. Anderson,” Luther said. 

Hank gave him his best ‘dad look’ as the teen entered the main hall.

“Kara,” Hank called upstairs. “Luther’s here.”

“Coming!” Kara responded.

Something crashed in the living room and Hank sighed, going to check on the troublemakers. 

Kara bounded down the stairs, her deep purple dress flowing around her ankles. Luther stood at the base of the stairs, his mouth open, his eyes wide.

“Wow,” he managed as she descended and gave a little twirl. “You look fantastic.”

Kara tucked the curls of her hair behind her ear and blushed at him. 

“Uh,” I got you this,” Luther said, opening the box.

“Oh, Luther, it’s beautiful,” Kara said. She smirked at him. “Aren’t you going to [ut in on me?”

Luther blushed and took the corsage out of the box. He went to pin it on Kara’s dress. He heard Hank clear his throat. “Uh, I think it’d look good on your wrist,” Luther said, tying it to Kara.

Good move, Hank thought, smiling at them. “Alright,” He said, “get in for your picture.”

“Oh, Daaaaaad,” Kara moaned. She still smiled and wrapped an arm around Luther and smiled wide as Hank did his dadly duties.

The doorbell rang and Hank finally let Luther and Kara join the others in the living room.

“Hello, Lieutenant,” Chloe said, stepping into the house. 

“Hey there, Chloe. Come on in, Connor will be down in a sec.”  
“Thank you.” Chloe wandered into the living room and Hank ran upstairs to check on his son.

He found Connor in his room, flustered, fiddling with his tie.

“You alright, buddy?” Hank asked.

Connor whined. “It won’t go,” he said.

Hank set the camera down and turned Connor around to face him. “Here,” he said. “Let me.”

Hank watched Connor’s face as he fixed his tie. The teen’s eyes kept bouncing around the room, and he was chewing on his lip.

“Everything alright?” Hank asked again. He finished tying the tie and started smoothing out the folds in Connor’s jacket.

“Yeah,” Connor said. Hank waited in silence for a minute. “I think I like her,” Connor finally whispered.

Hank smiled. He pulled his son into a hug. “Yeah, I think you do too.”

Connor pulled away. “What if she doesn't like me?”

“Then at least you’ll still have a good friend,” Hank told him.

Connor nodded. “Let’s go.”

Hank led Connor down to the rest of the teens in the living room. He glanced at Markus and Simon, who had clearly been kissing. He was going to have to keep a close eye on them.

“Connor,” Chloe said, walking up to him. “You look so handsome.”

“Thanks,” Connor said, shouting a bit. “So do you. I mean-pretty. You look pretty.”

“Okay, one last photo op you guys,” Hank said.

The teens in the room grumbled but obliged him. They had pulled their allowances together to get a limo. Hank followed behind in his car.

*

“That dress really brings out the color in your eyes,” Luther said.

Kara blushed. “That suit really makes your shoulders pop,” she said, with a slight giggle.

Luther pulled her closer and touched their foreheads together, the two of them swaying to the music.

“You kids need anything?” Hank asked, appearing right next to Luther, staring at him. “Snacks? Some punch maybe?”

Luther and Kara pulled apart slightly.

“No thanks, Dad,” Kara said, biting her lip.

“Huh,” Hank said, eyeing Luther up before moving across the floor to where Markus and Simon were.

“Ugh,” Markus said, spying Hank moving towards them. “Here comes Dad.” He moved away from Simon, keeping a bubble of air between them. Hank did a terrible job of looking like he wasn’t looking at them.

“You kids having fun?” North asked, walking up to them with Josh in tow.

“No,” Simon said, frowning a bit. 

“My dad keeps interrupting,” Markus said. “Hey, you guys wanna help us out?”

North raised an eyebrow. “Depends on the price.”

“How about I don’t punch you?” Markus asked.

“Heh,” North said. “You could try.”

“What do you need?” Josh asked.

“I got us a room upstairs,” Markus said.

“Mr. Moneybags,” North joked, giving the two boys a knowing look.

“I need you to distract my dad so we can slip away,” Markus said.

“On it,” North said, winking at them.

North led Josh over to Hank. “I don’t...I don’t think I can lie to him, North,” Josh said. “He’s a cop.”  
“Just, be quiet and stay calm,” North said.

“Hey, kids,” Hank said, watching them approach.

“Mr. Anderson, I just saw Gavin put something in the punch,” North said. She leaned over, dropping her voice to a whisper. “I don’t think it was a very good substance either.”

Hank eyed her up, then turned his attention to Josh. “Is that what happened?” Hank asked.

Josh fidgeted. He was already sweating. He looked at North, said nothing, and nodded.

“Huh.” Hank scanned the whole of the ballroom. “And where exactly did Markus and Simon slip off to?”

“They’re upstairs!” Josh blurted out. “Room-”

North elbowed him in the side. He huffed and she shook her head at him.

“Thanks, kid,” Hank said, patting Josh on the shoulder as he moved past them.

“I’m sorry,” Josh whispered to North, taking the full front of her next punch.

Hank caught the elevator before the doors fully shut. He waved his hand before the sensor, forcing the doors to open again. He placed his hands on his hips and stared at Markus and Simon. “Going somewhere?”

Markus and Simon sighed, stepping out of the elevator.

“I’m sorry,” Simon said.

“Look, guys, I get it,” Hank said. “I was a teenage boy once too.”

“Oh, Dad, gross,” Markus said, making a face.

“But you two are too young for this.”

“Hey,” Markus said. “I’m eighteen, okay?”

“Yes,” Hank nodded. “But Simon is only seventeen. Which makes him a minor. Which makes this,” he gestured between the two of them, “technically illegal.”

“Well, not really,” Markus said.

“Is that the excuse you’ll use in front of a judge?” Hank asked.

Markus opened his mouth to respond, but Simon placed himself between the pair. 

“Just drop it, Markus,” He said. “You’re dad’s right. Why don’t we just, go enjoy the dance?”

Markus looked up at his dad, ready to fight more, but then he looked down at Simon’s soft eyes and sighed. “Yeah, okay.” He looked back at his dad. “Can we at least dance close without you bugging us every five seconds?”

“I’ll think about it,” Hank said.

*

Hank waited outside the hotel with the group of teens. North and Josh got picked up by Josh’s parents. Hank let Simon and Markus kiss before Simon’s parents picked him up. Hank was going to drive Simon home, but, like him, his parents were concerned about the rate Markus’ and Simon’s relationship was moving.

Hank stuffed the remaining teens into his car. They drove Luther home first, Kara sharing a quick kiss with him, then sitting back in her seat, a look of bliss on her face as she started falling asleep.

Connor walked Chloe up to her door.

“You make an excellent date, Connor,” Chloe said. She messed with the edge of her dress, looking down at the ground.

“Oh, she’s totally flirting with him,” Markus said, leaning forward and watching through the passenger window.

Hank shook his head. “He won’t recognize it.”

“You too,” Connor said. He looked down at his feet, unsure of what to do.

“Connor,” Chloe said. She remembered the conversation she had had with Hank while they were waiting for the others’ rides.

“You gotta be direct with him,” Hank had whispered to her.

“Yes?” Connor asked.

Chloe smiled at him. Connor blushed a bit. Chloe stepped forward and placed a gentle kiss to Connor’s lips, just for a second, before pulling away, a light blush on her cheeks.

Connor stared at her, eyes wide, lips still slightly apart. “Thank you!” He yelled at her before running back to the car. Chloe smiled after him before going inside.

“That’s my boy,” Markus said, grabbing Connor by the shoulders and giving him a little shake as he sat in the passenger seat.

“She kissed me,” Connor said, breathing heavily.

Hank smiled and pulled away from the house. “She sure did, kiddo.”

“I wanna marry her,” Connor said.

“One step at a time there, buddy,” Hank said.


	18. Sumo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Age 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't believe I forgot to add sumo in until this point. he will appear in pieces from here on out

Hank parked the car outside of the pound and leaned his head against the steering wheel. He really shouldn’t have told the kids they were going to get a dog. Kara had found a dog breed book and was listing out which breeds she thought were cute, and which she thought were super cute. Markus was experimenting with making different dog noises, from woofs to growls. The only saving grace was Connor, who was excitedly looking out the window. Excitedly and quietly.

“Alright,” Hank said. He got out of the car and started unbuckling all of their car seats. “Now, let’s go over the rules one more time.”

Markus and Kara groaned.

“What are we not going to do?” Hank asked, picking Markus us and setting him on the ground. 

He sighed. “We’re not gonna run out of sight.”

“And?” Hank asked, placing Kara next to him.

“No screaming,” She said with a pout.

“Good.” Hank smiled at the two of them and picked Connor up. The little tyke wrapped his arms around Hank’s neck and rested his head on his shoulder. 

Hank led the other two inside. His headache grew in size with the onslaught of barking that came from the back of the store. Hank felt Connor shift in his arms, burying his face in Hank’s neck. He figured the noise and business of the whole thing would spook the little guy. He gently rubbed his back.

The man working the front desk looked up. “Well, hello there,” he said. Hank studied the scar on the man’s eye but didn’t say anything about it, figuring he must have had a little trouble with a dog at some point. The tag on his shirt read Ralph.

“We’re here to get a dog!” Kara said, 

“Well you’re in luck, little lady,” Ralph said, stepping out behind the counter. “Cause we’ve got plenty.”

Kara and Markus squealed and the family followed Ralph into the back. Cages of dogs lined the wall and they all barked at the kids. Markus ran a few inches ahead, looking at all the dogs. Kara had her book out, examining which dogs were which.

“Any idea what kind of a dog you’re interested in?” Ralph asked Hank.

Hank set Connor down, encouraging him to go look at the dogs. “Whatever the kid wants,” he said. “His teacher recommended we get him a pet.”

Hank watch Connor slowly walk down the hall. He was chewing on his sleeve, his eyes wide and watery as he looked left and right at the cages. 

“Daddy look at this one!” Kara said, pointing into a cage. The dog in question was a wiry little thing, with most of its hair shaved away. 

“Uh, cute,” Hank said, patting her on the shoulder. He heard a growling and turned around. Luckily, it was just Markus imitating one of the other dogs. 

Hank scanned the hallway, but Connor wasn’t there. He tried not to freak out, but it wasn’t like Connor to just wander off. His heart started to explode when he heard a squeal. 

Hank and Ralph ran down the hall towards the bend. Just around the corner, Connor was on the floor, a giant ball of fluff on top of him.

Ralph dragged the dog off of Connor by the leash and Hank pulled Connor up, desperately looking for any scrapes. Connor was crying, struggling in Hank’s arms.

“Sorry about that,” Ralph said. “This lil guy's a bit of an escape artist.”

“I like him!” Markus said.

“He’s so fluffy!” Kara added.

Connor twisted around in Hank’s arms, throwing his arms out towards the puppy. “I wanna,” he said.

Satisfied that the toddler hadn’t be hurt, Hank carefully set Connor down, keeping a hold on his shoulders. The dog struggled against Ralph’s hold and Connor smiled, holding a hand out to him. The dog licked at him and Connor laughed. 

“Looks like a match to me,” Ralph said, letting the dog creep closer to the boy.

“Yeah,” Hank said, not thrilled about having another escape artist in the house. But Connor did seem to like the dog quite a lot. “It’s perfect.”

“What should we name him?” Kara asked.

Connor struggled out of Hank’s grip and wrapped his arms around the puppy. “Sumo,” he said.

Hank chuckled. “Sumo it is.”


	19. Party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Age 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll make a fic about it, but I'm thinking that since they're adopted RK900 (rich) is gonna be Connor's long lost brother who they eventually meet at some point.

“This is going to be great,” Markus said, setting the last bowl of snacks on the table. 

Kara stood by the door to the dining room, shaking her head. “It’s not going to work. We are going to get caught and then Dad will ground us for an eternity. You nearly died when he caught you and Simon home alone, what do you think he’s going to do when he finds out about this?”

“He’s not going to find out,” Markus said. He flashed a smile at her over his shoulder. “We have a foolproof plan.”

“I don’t think this can really qualify as foolproof.” Kara uncrossed her arms and grabbed a handful of pretzels, shoving them in her mouth.

“What’s not going to work? Dad’s in Chicago for work, Connor’s spending the weekend at Rich’s, and we’re all alone and unsupervised.” Markus rearranged the bowls on the table, studying the layout.

“We are so getting caught,” Kara mumbled.

“Did you finish putting away the china?”

Kara nodded and the doorbell rang. The two looked over at the door. 

“Our first guess,” Markus said, jumping up and racing over. He opened the door and North and Josh walked in.

North whistled, looking around the empty house. “Quite a party you got going on here.” She smirked at Markus.

“Shut up,” Markus said. “It only just started.”

“I told you we’d be too early,” North said, walking into the living room. 

Josh followed her, glaring. “We’re right on time. How is that early?”

“We’re the cool kids Josh. Well, I am. I’m supposed to arrive fashionably late.”

“Well, then you could have driven yourself and showed up as late as you want.”

North thumbed through the CDs next to the boombox, pursing her lips at the choices. “Yeah but then I couldn’t drink.”

“You shouldn’t be anyway,” Josh said, sitting down on the couch.

“Oh shush,” North said. “It’s a party.” She decided on a cd and stuck it in the boombox, music filling the dead air.

The doorbell rang again and Kara opened it, letting in a small group of school kids in. She saw Luther walking down the street and waved at him. He waved back, a large smile on his face.

“I hope you guys have a tight plan,” he said, closing the door behind him. “I don’t think I could handle another month away.”

“Well prepare yourself,” Kara said, kissing him on the cheek. “I don’t think Markus thought this through pretty well.”

Luther gave her a weary smile and followed her into the living. 

An hour later and the party was in full swing. Gavin had managed to procure a keg of beer, and no one asked. Music played loud enough to listen to, but not too loud that it disturbed the neighbors.

“See?” Markus had told Kara. “I did think things through.”

At eleven the doorbell rang and Markus opened it, sucking in his breath and holding it. Simon stood on the other side, wearing a new green sweater and holding a glass dish. He blushed and looked down, his feet fidgeting.

“I know it’s stupid,” he said, avoiding eye contact. He held the dish out. “But I couldn’t just, not show up with something.”

Markus couldn’t stop staring at the boy's shy face as he took the warm dish from him. “It smells great.”

“It’s a dip,” Simon said, looking up at Markus through his eyelashes.

Markus wanted to cry. Then he remembered that they were dating. Yes. He stepped outside and tilted his head forward, kissing Simon.

Simon blushed again, a smile on his face.

As midnight drew near, Kara was finally starting to feel confident that they might actually get away with their first party. Markus had disappeared, no doubt somewhere with the also missing Simon. But mostly everyone was behaving, and Kara could do the rounds herself. A few people were getting a bit tipsy, but no one was outright drunk. They were really doing this party thing right.

Then the door opened. Kara stopped in the hallway, frozen as she looked at Connor and his older, biological, brother, Rich. She squealed a little and walked up to them, her body shaking. “W-what are you doing here?”

“Gavin texted me about a party,” Rich said. He shed his jacket and hung it up on the rack. Connor looked around and then moved off to the dining room.

“What were you thinking,” Kara hissed, stepping up in Rich’s face. “You can’t take Connor to a party.”

Rich shrugged. “Why not? It’s what kids his age do. Figured he should experience it.”

“It is not what kids his age do,” Kara said.

Rich raised an eyebrow at her. “It’s what you’re doing.”

“That’s different,” Kara said. “Connor is…”

Rich crossed his arms. “Go on. Finish. Connor’s what?”

“He’s...not a party person,” Kara said.

Rich nodded over at the dining room, where Connor was sitting on the floor, Sumo’s head on his lap, giving the dog a good pet. “He seems happy to me.”

Kara raised her finger to say something but she was cut off by the loud thud coming from the living room. “I-this isn’t over.”

She walked in to find that someone had fallen, knocking the beer keg over, spilling the alcohol onto the carpet. The teens around it backed up, watching the stain spread.

“That’s it,” Kara yelled. She pointed to the door. “Everyone out.”

The teens slowly started to filter out of the room. Markus came bounding down the stairs, distressed, his clothes a mess. “What happened?”

Kara turned her glare to him. “Where’s your plan now, Markus?”

Simon appeared behind him, looking at the growing stain. “That can’t be good.”

Most of the teens left, North, Josh, Luther, Connor, and Rich staying behind. Sumo walked up to the spill, investigating it.

“Sumo, no,” Markus shouted, pulling the dog away as he started to lick at the beer.

“Well,” Rich said. “You kids have fun with that. C’mon Con-man, let’s bounce.”

“I’ll look up how to clean beer stains,” Josh said, pulling out his phone.

“We are dead,” Kara said. 

“We need water, dish detergent, and vinegar,” Josh said. He looked down at the stain. “And lot’s of it.”

Kara remained still, staring at the fallen keg, imaging her constant grounded future.

“I’ll go check the kitchen,” Luther said. 

“I’ll help,” Simon said, following after him.

“Look, Kara.” Markus looked up at her, still holding the struggling Sumo back. “I’ll take the blame okay? You can tell dad you had a last minute sleepover with Chloe or something and I’ll take the hit.”

Kara shook her head. “No. We both agreed to the idea. It’s only fair we share the blame.”

They did manage to clean the stain, but the whole house smelled like a mixture of beer and vinegar, and it wasn’t gone when the morning came. Kara and Markus sat slumped on the couch, awaiting their demise.

Rich dropped Connor off and the teen sat in the chair, petting Sumo and watching T.V. The other two stiffened when the door opened and they heard the heavy footfalls of Hank.

Markus and Kara exchanged a look.

“Together, right?” Kara asked.

Markus nodded. “Together.”

*

Hank could smell it as soon as he walked through the door. He looked around in the dining room and kitchen. He had to admit, walking in and seeing his three children sitting innocent as could be in front of the TV, they did a good job of covering it up. 

But he knew from experience that beer stains don’t clean overnight.

“Hi, Dad,” Kara and Markus said in unison, not looking up at him.

Connor looked up and waved.

“Have a good weekend?” Hank asked, sitting down between the two troublemakers.

“Rich took me to a movie,” Connor said. He lowered his voice to a whisper. “It was rated R.”

Hank chuckled at him. He looked between Kara and Markus. The two of them were exchanging glances and avoiding looking at him. It didn’t take years of being a detective to know what had happened here last night.

But, no one seemed to be hurt. And there were no calls to the cops made. Hank sighed. Kids will be kids.

“So,” he said, leaning back and putting his feet up on the coffee table. “What are we watching?”


	20. Movie Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Age 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promise I did not set out to make Markus a dramatic, love-sick puppy but here we are

Markus slinked into Kara’s room, checking the hallway before closing the door behind. “Hello, favorite sister.”

Kara smirked, not looking up from the textbook on her desk. “Hello, second favorite brother.”

“Hey.”

Kara chuckled and spun around in her chair, facing him. “What do you want?”

Markus, already wearing his coat, walked over to Kara’s window. He opened it, looking out at the tree. “I need you to cover for me tonight.”

“Not a chance,” Kara said, turning back to her book. “It’s family movie night. You aren’t going anywhere. Now close the window.”

“You don’t understand, Kara.” Markus left the window open and fell to his knees next to her desk. “This is about true love.”

Kara raised an eyebrow at him.

“Simon asked me to go to the movies tonight. Well. I mean. He asked North and Josh too but I paid them to sit in a different section of the movie theater.”

“Aren’t you guys like, already dating? Didn’t you say he kissed you.”

“Well, yes. But since then we haven’t really talked or done anything you know?”

“Markus,” Kara said, exasperated. She turned, placing her hands on her brother’s shoulders. “That was like two weeks ago.”

“I know! That’s why I really need to go out tonight.” He folded his hands together, giving her his best puppy dog look. “Please, Kara. I’m begging you.”

“Well....what do you want me to tell him anyway? It’s not like he won’t check on you if I say you’re sick or anything.”

Markus stood back up. “I’ve already stuffed my bed. Just tell him I went to sleep early.”

“Markus it’s seven at night,” Kara said. But Markus was already climbing out the window. She shook her head and turned back to her studying.

*  
“You’re late,” North said as Markus sprinted through the movie theater doors.

“I know,” he said, breathing heavily. “I hit like, every red crosswalk on the way here you would not believe.”

“Here,” Simon said. He handed Markus a movie ticket and a soda. “I figured we could share a popcorn.”

“You didn’t have to get my ticket,” Markus said, his mouth suddenly very dry.

“It’s okay,” Simon said, smiling. Why was he always smiling, it wasn’t fair. “I don’t mind.”

Buying tickets and food, Markus thought. That’s like a date thing. Maybe Kara was right, and he didn’t need to bride North and Josh to leave them alone.

“Uhh, Markus,” Josh said, breaking his concentration on Simon’s dimple. “I don’t mean to alarm you or anything but, uh, isn’t that your dad?”

Markus spun around so fast he almost tripped. Hank was indeed storming through the doors of the theater, his face surprisingly calm. Markus backed up a bit and his friends parted to the side.

Hank’s voice was steady and even. “Markus.” Markus chuckled nervously. Hank looked around at the others, frowning. They all avoided eye-contact. “Great night for a movie.”

“Kara told you didn’t she,” Markus said, already plotting his revenge.

“She didn’t have to. I saw you climbing down the tree.”

“Oh.” Markus dropped his face. 

Hank held out his hand and Markus handed him the movie ticket. Hank studied it, then looked over at North. “Fake ID,” he stated.

North’s face turned red and she dug her wallet out of her pocket, handing the incriminating evidence over.

“I’m calling all your parents,” Hank said. All four of them started to argue but he held his hand up, silencing them quickly. “And you are grounded for two weeks.”

Markus hung his head. Another two weeks without being able to properly date Simon. He wouldn’t survive.

*  
“You have ruined my life,” Markus said, storming into the house. 

“That’s my job,” Hank said, following him.

“Well, your job sucks.” Markus started stomping up the stairs.

“We’re not done here, Markus,” Hank called up after him. The teen ignored him, slamming his door shut.

Connor appeared at the entrance to the living room, holding a DVD in his hands. “Are we watching the movie?”

“In a minute, Connor. I have to go deal with Cassanova up there.” 

Hank didn’t bother knocking on Markus’ door. The teen was lying on his bed, back facing him.

“I don’t wanna talk,” Markus mumbled.

“Well that’s too bad, ‘cause we’re gonna.”

Hank sat down on the edge of Markus’ bed. The teen sniffed and Hank looked over, seeing Markus rub at his eyes, his face tight in anger. He sighed and rubbed his face.

“You know,” he started. “You could have just told me you wanted to go out with Simon. I would have understood.”

“No you wouldn’t,” Markus said. “You would have been all, nothing's more important than family, and would have made me stay.”

Hank placed a hand on his son’s leg. “I might have given you some kind of speech, yes, but I’d have let you go.”

Markus shook his head, refusing to believe it.

“And you could always invite Simon over to family movie night.”

“No offense, Dad, but family movie night doesn’t exactly set a romantic tone.”

Hank smiled. “Maybe not, but it’s a lot more romantic than getting caught sneaking out and grounded in front of your friends.”

Markus sighed, sniffing again. He rubbed the last tears off his eyes and finally rolled over, looking at Hank. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have snuck out.”

“Apology accepted.”

Markus sat up at the two hugged. 

“Now,” Hank stood up. “There’s still time for a movie yet.”


	21. Art Class

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Age 17

“I know what I’m doing here,” Josh said, walking next to Markus down the school hallway. “But why are you taking art class?”

“What?” Markus asked. “A guy can’t take an elective class just for fun?”

“But you already have your art requirement,” Josh said. “You took band Freshman year. Why are you taking a second one?”

Markus shrugged. “No reason.” 

Then they walked in the class and saw the reason. 

“Of course,” Josh said as Simon waved them over to the empty seats next to him.

“Shush,” Markus whispered.

“You guys ready to paint?” Simon asked.

“It’s the first day, Simon,” Josh said. He pulled out a notebook and his pen. “I doubt we’ll do any painting today.”

“It’s a painting class. That’s kind of what we’re supposed to do.”

“We have to learn the techniques first.” Josh pulled a thick book out of his backpack and sat it on the table. 

“This class doesn’t have a required reading list,” Markus said, eyeing the size of it.

“I know. I just picked it up for supplemental learning.”

Markus was going to say something along the lines of calling Josh a nerd, but then the teacher walked in. Well. Rolled in.

“Good morning students,” the old man said. “I am Mr. Manfred. Those of you I like may call me Carl.” He smiled at the circle of desks and rolled closer. “Today we are going to start with a simple exercise to gauge your artistic style and talent. I want you to pick a subject, anything at all. And paint it.”

The students looked at him, each as confused as the next. Josh raised his hand. 

“You want us to just...start painting?”

Carl nodded. “That is correct.”

The teens looked at one another and then one by one they started getting to work. Markus looked around the room, trying to find something he could paint. He decided it might be fun to try and recreate the clay statue in the corner as a painting.

As the class went on, Carl circled around the desks, looking at each canvas and commenting on them as he saw fit. When he got to Josh, the teen hung his head, lowering his paintbrush.

“I know,” Josh said. “I’m terrible.”

Carl placed a hand on Josh’s shoulder and studied his canvas. “I see great potential here.”

Markus looked over a smirked. Josh’s painting looked like something a four-year-old could make. Markus looked back at his own canvas, feeling confident in how it was turning out.

“Well, well Mr. Anderson,” Carl said, chuckling softly at Simon’s work. “It appears you have an admirer.”

Markus looked over and blushed. Simon’s painting was of him. But he had turned all of Markus’ freckles into stars and had connected them like constellations. Simon was covering his face with his hands, and Markus could see beat-red skin beneath it.

“Well done,” Carl said to Simon. Then he wheeled over to Markus. Markus smiled, high off of Simon’s love, and studied his own canvas. All Carl said was “hmmm,” before rolling away.

After school, Markus returned to the art room.

“You wanted to see me?” he said, stepping gingerly through the door.

“Ah yes, Mr. Anderson. Do come in.”

Markus walked up to the desk, where Carl had all the canvases from his class spread out before him.

“I wanted to talk to you about your painting.” He gestured for Markus to take a seat. For a brief moment, Markus thought maybe his had been so good that Carl was going to try to get him to become an artist or something. “I worry that without proper guidance I shall have to give you less than mediocre grades.”

Markus stared at him with an open mouth. “It can’t possibly be that bad. I mean,” he leaned over and tapped Josh’s painting. “It’s certainly not worse than that.”

“In technique, maybe,” Carl said. “But you cannot grade art on technique.”

Markus squinted at him.

“You grade art on the intent, and, over time, on the improvement of the artist. And I must say I am a bit worried looking at your painting.”

“But, but it’s exactly like the statue.” Markus pointed back to the corner of the room. “It looks identical.”

“And therein lies the problem.”

“I...I don’t follow.”

“Art is not about recreating the world exactly as you see it. It’s about improving on it, making assumptions and judgments and using emotion to fill the canvas.” Markus sat quiet, taking it all in, not sure how to respond. “Next week we’re going to be working in monotones. I want you to think hard about what you’re going to pain, and find ways you can experiment more.”

Markus thought about. The next day in class he was assigned the color blue to make his painting with. At first, he thought about painting Simon. After all, Simon had made such a wonderful painting of him. But blue didn’t fit Simon.

Blue only fit one person that Markus knew. And he knew exactly how to paint them.

At the end of the week, when Carl circled the room to check on everyone’s project, Markus was nervous.

“It looks great,” Simon said, placing a hand on his boyfriend’s back. 

Markus nodded, still uncertain. Carl rolled up to them and studied Markus’ canvas.

“Tell me about it,” Carl said, sitting back and folding his hands in his lap.

“Well. Uh. That’s my Dad.” He pointed to the strong strokes of dark blue paint against the mess of light blues in the background. “Well. Sorta. It’s hard to remember exactly how he looks but that’s the general gist of him?”

Carl moved closer to the canvas. “These strokes,” he said, pointing at the light blue colors. Markus winced. They were a disaster, he knew. “What decision went behind them.”

Markus deflated. “Well, I know it looks shitty but...My dad’s always kinda been like the solid think you know?” Carl nodded, encouraging him. “Like...I don’t know. Life’s a mess. But like, no matter what happens Dad’s always there.” Markus didn’t even realize he was crying. “Like, I remember when he found us. I was so scared and I had no idea what was going on. I just remember being so confused.” He felt Simon rubbing his arm. He realized he was crying. In class. In front of everyone. He wiped at his eyes. “Sorry, I just...uh. Wow. That was unexpected.”

Carl gave him a reassuring smile and patted his arm. “You did well, Markus. I look forward to seeing more of your work.”

Simon wrapped his arms around Markus and Josh stared the other teens down until they looked away. Markus sniffed a few times and hugged Simon back.

“Thanks,” he mumbled to him. “And don’t either of you tell him I said that.”


	22. Lucy the Therapist

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Age 5

Hank sat in the waiting room, watching Connor. The toddler knelt on the floor, playing with the stacking blocks, organizing them in columns according to their color and shade. He felt a gnawing fear and worry in his stomach. He tried to distract himself by looking around the office but all the pamphlets made him squirm and the magazines were all kid-centric and not very fun at all.

Hank breathed a sigh of relief when someone stepped out from the side door and called them in.

“C’mon, kid.” Hank bent down and picked Connor up into his arms. Connor whined a little but curled into Hank’s body, accepting his fate.

Hank followed the woman down the hall, looking at the abstract paintings hanging on the walls. She led them into a little room with a small table, a large couch, and two armchairs. Blank papers and crayons littered the table and a pile of toys were in the corner.

A young woman stood up to greet them. “Lieutenant Anderson,” she said, extending a hand to him. “It’s nice to meet you. My name is Lucy.”

“Nice to meet ya,” Hank said shaking her hand. He set Connor down on the ground and the tyke grabbed onto his leg, hiding his face in Hank’s pants. “He’s a bit shy.”

Lucy smiled and knelt down. “It’s okay, Connor,” she said in a soft voice. “Sometimes strangers scare me too.” Connor peaked out at her. She gave him a warm smile. “I’m going to talk with your Dad for a little bit okay? You’re welcome to draw or play with any of the toys we have here.”

Connor looked up at her, watching her face with interest. Hank let him stay attached to his leg as he sat down. He smoothed down Connor’s hair. “He just takes a while to warm up,” he told Lucy.

As Hank and Lucy talked about school and Connor’s home life, the toddler eventually broke away from Hank’s leg, spying the small pile of army men. Lucy watched him play with them, standing them up in rows. Once he ran out of them, Connor looked around, searching through the piles of toys for more. When he didn’t find any, he sat down on the floor and started to cry silently.

“Hey, hey, buddy it’s okay.” Hank walked over to Connor and picked him up, patting his back a little. Connor whined and buried his head in Hank’s shoulder.

“He really likes those things,” Hank told Lucy. He sat back down on the chair and held Connor in his lap.

Lucy smiled softly at them and readjusted her seat. “Why don’t you tell me about some of your anxieties, Lieutenant.”

“My anxieties?” Hank asked. He shook his head a little bit.

“About Connor. About autism in general. You seem to know the truth, but you’re still trying to pretend it isn’t. What bothers you so much about it?”

Hank sighed. “It’s not that I mind. It’s just...everyone else will. I don’t want Connor to have to go through life being the autistic kid, ya know? Have you met kids these days? They’re terrible. And there’s so much more to Connor than that. He’s he’s incredibly perceptive and thoughtful and...I just don’t want him to have to deal with all that.”

Lucy nodded. “I understand where you’re coming from. That’s what a lot of parents want for their children. But ignoring autism won’t make it go away. In fact, the more we do for Connor now, the better he’ll adjust in the future.”

Hank smoothed down Connor’s hair. The toddler had settled down a bit and was now playing with Hank’s tie, twisting the end of it around in his hands, every once in a while chewing on it. 

“You’re right,” Hank said. “I know you’re right. I just...don’t know what to do.”

“That’s what I’m here for,” Lucy said.


	23. The Fair

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Age 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> things to note:  
> Gavin is Chloe's older brother

Hank wasn’t nearly prepared to take three children to one of the busiest carnivals in the world, but he had promised them if they all kept the house clean for a whole month he would take them. He never really thought the kids would manage it. Even their rooms were neat and tidy. He wasn’t entirely unconvinced they had hired a maid behind his back.

“I wanna go on all the rides,” Markus said as they walked down the road to the fair. At least living so close to the fairgrounds saved them the trouble of traffic. “I heard this year they’re going to have two roller coasters!”

“I wanna win one of those giant plush bears!” Kara said. “This girl from school won one last year and it was so soft!”

Hank smiled down at Connor, who was holding his hand and staring at the passing cars. “What about you, Connor. What are you looking forward to?” 

Connor looked up at him, his eyes wide and unblinking. He shrugged.

“Can we get the loaded nacho fries?” Markus asked. He spun around, walking backwards while looking at Hank. 

“Only if you promise not to throw them all up on the rides,” Hank said.

“How about we get them on the way out?” Kara said.

Hank winked at her. “Good idea.”

As the family joined the line waiting to get tickets, Connor stepped a bit closer to Hank, increasing the grip of his hand.

“It’s okay, buddy,” Hank said, using his other hand to pat the kid’s head. “I know it’s a lot of people but I’m right here with you. I’m not going anywhere okay?”

Connor nodded, looking around at the other kids and adults. Hank paid for their tickets and corralled his kids off to the side.

“Okay, now you each get ten tickets,” Hank said, handing the strips out to each of them. “And before you ask, no I will not be getting you anymore.”

“Uh Dad, not to be a downer or anything,” Kara said, but it took that girl from school like, 100 tickets to win her bear.”

“Yeah and there are like, 8 rides each for 2 tickets. I’m gonna have to miss out on 3 rides,” Markus added.

Hank put a hand on his hip and stared them down. They both frowned. Connor held out his tickets to them.

“Connor, that’s really sweet,” Kara said. “But don’t you wanna use your tickets for anything?”

Connor shook his head rapidly, nuding the tickets at his siblings. They both looked to Hank.

Hank knelt on the ground. “Connor if you want to give away your tickets, that’s your decision. But you won’t be able to change your mind later. Are you sure this is what you want to do?” Connor looked around at the stalls and rides near them and then nodded slowly. “Alright then.” Hank stood back up and let Markus take Connor’s tickets.

“Thanks, bro,” Markus said. “I’ll take six and you take four,” he said, splitting the strip almost in half.

“Why not just half and half?” Kara asked. “Five and five.”

“Because that’s an odd number,” Markus said, handing her the four. “And I already ripped them.”

Kara sighed. “Fine.”

“Alright.” Hank put his free hand on his hip and grabbed Connor’s with the other. “Not this is how it’s gonna go. We’ll hit the four rides on this side of the fair, let Kara play some of the games, then do the other four. And I don’t want to hear any arguing from anyone.”

“Sounds like a perfect plan to me, Dad,” Markus said, smiling widely at him.

“I see no faults in it,” Kara added. 

Hank nodded at them and they raced off towards the first ride. Connor and Hank followed more slowly. Markus was already in line for the swing ride when they caught up.

“I bet he throws up,” Kara said to Hank.

“Imagine the spectacle,” Hank said with a laugh.

He felt a tugging on his arm and looked down at Connor. The child was pointing to the animal pens a few feet away. Connor looked up at him.

“Something you wanna say there, kiddo?” Hank asked.

“Can we go?” Connor asked. “I wanna...pet.”

Hank smiled at him. “Let’s wait until Markus is done and then you can go pet the animals okay?”

Connor frowned and looked down at the ground.

“It’s okay, Dad,” Kara said. “I can wait here for Markus and you can take Connor to the animals.”

“I don’t know if I feel comfortable leaving you two alone,” Hank said.

“Dad, please. We’re nine, okay? We’re practically adults.We’re perfectly capable of being alone at a fair for a few minutes.”

Hank raised an eyebrow at her. “Practically adults, huh? When you gonna start paying rent then?”

Kara rolled her eyes. “Ugh, Daaaaad.”

“Alright alright.” He looked back at the animal pens. It wasn’t all the far away and he could still keep an eye on the two trouble makers. “No funny business.”

“Us? Never.” 

Hank squinted at her and then led Connor over to the animal pens. The child released his hand and ran forward, stepping up to the pen holding a pair of sheep. Hank smiled at him as Connor reached through and gently patted his hand against the soft fur. He giggled.

Hank looked back over his shoulder. Markus had gotten off the first ride and he and Kara were walking over to the second one together. Hank stepped up to the fence and pet the sheep with Connor.

“They’re soft,” Connor whispered. 

“They are,” Hank agreed. “Guess that’s why so much stuff is made out of wool huh?”

Connor smiled at him and the two of them went around to the rest of the pens, petting the different animals waiting to be judged for the fair. 

“I am officially dizzy,” Markus said, tottering over to them with Kara giggling behind him.

“Good thing we didn’t eat first then, huh?” Hank said, putting a steadying hand on his shoulder.

“Definitely.”

“Did you have fun petting the animals, Connor?” Kara asked.

Connor nodded, a smile on his face.

“So...games now right?” Kara asked.

“Yep,” Hank said. He took Connor’s hand. “Let’s go.”

The three stood behind Kara as she tossed ball after ball at towers of milk bottles. In the end, she used most of her tickets but only had enough points to get one of the smaller stuffed bears.

She took the little purple animal from the game attendant and only frowned a little. She shrugged, turning around. “It may not be giant but it’s better than nothing,” she declared.

“That’s my girl,” Hank said, smoothing down her hair and smiling at her.

The rest of the evening went well. They watched Markus ride the rest of the fair rides and they sat down for much needed water and nacho fries. Happy and full, the family started heading towards the exit.

“Thank you for taking us, Dad,” Kara said, holding her bear up.

“Yeah,” Markus said. “That was like the most fun I’ve ever had.”

“I’m glad you enjoyed it,” Hank said. He felt a tug on his arm as Connor stopped walking. “Everything alright?”

Connor was motionless in the walkway, staring at one of the game stands set up in the center. It was a ring toss game, and all the prizes were fish. If you tossed your ring around their bag, you got to take them home.

Connor whined. “Fish.”

Hank sighed. Part of him wanted to go buy the kid some more tickets so he could get one, but Connor needed up understand the effects of his choices, and he had chosen to give away his tickets.

“Oh!” Kara said. She dug around in her pocket and pulled out a ticket. “I still have one left.”

“Let me do it,” Markus said, grabbing the ticket from her. “Don’t worry Connor, I’ll get you the biggest, bestest fish there is.”

The family stepped up to the game and the bored attendant handed them three rings. Markus tossed the first one and it fell short. The second one went too far. 

“You got this,” Kara said.

Markus nodded and licked his lips. He aimed and tossed the ring.

If fell between two bags.

“Oh no,” Kara said.

Connor’s eyes started to water and Hank tensed up. He was ready to grab Connor and rush to the exit when someone stepped between them and slapped a handful of tickets down on the counter.

“Chloe?” Kara asked.

The girl smiled at them. “We’re getting that fish,” she said.

“Chloe!” Gavin called, running after her. “You can’t just run off like that.”

“Not now Gavin,” Chloe said. “I gotta win a fish.”

The attendant handed her a pile of rings. Gavin grabbed her arm. “Yeah well Dad’s gonna yell at me if you’re gone so too bad.”

“Wait.” Chloe used her other hand to grab the pile of rings and toss them all at once at the bags. Most of them fell to the side. One of them landed around one of the corner bags. 

The attendant rolled his eyes and handed the bag over to Connor.

“Yes!” Chloe said, letting Gavin drag her away.

Hank nudged Connor’s shoulder.

“Oh.” Connor looked after Chloe and shouted, “Thank you!”

“See ya at school,” she called back.

Hank chuckled. That kid really was a blessing.

“So what are you gonna name them, Connor?” Kara asked as the family finally left the fair.

Connor held the bag up and studied the colorful fish inside. “Dewey.”


	24. Daniel's Safe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Age 5

Markus, Kara, and Connor sat on the couch, not watching the movie. 

“It’s not like Dad to just leave us like this,” Kara said. She glanced outside at the rain, then over her shoulder at the front door.

“He said it was important,” Markus told her. He pulled his feet onto the couch and hugged his knees. “He’s fine, I’m sure of it.”

The babysitter walked into the room carrying a plate. “You kiddos ready for a snack?”

She set the plate down on the table. Kara and Markus looked it over. 

“Celery?” Kara asked.

“With peanut butter,” the babysitter said, sitting in the chair.

“How much is he paying you?” Markus asked. “We can pay double.”

The babysitter just smiled at them. Kara shrugged.

“Well,” she said, picking up a stalk. “Better than nothing I guess.”

Markus shivered. “You can’t get me to eat that.”

“Connor, would you like some?” Kara asked.

Connor’s eyes were fixated on the window, biting on the corner of his blanket.

Markus leaned over and hugged him. “Don’t worry, Connor. He’ll be home soon.”

Connor raised an arm and pointed out the window. Hank’s car was pulling into the driveway. The three piled on the edge of the couch, watching as Hank got out of the car, opened an umbrella, and went around to the passenger side.

“He’s got someone with him,” Kara said.

“It’s a woman,” Markus said.

Hank helped the woman out of the car and held the umbrella out for her.

“Maybe it’s a date,” Kara squealed.

“Dad doesn’t date,” Markus told her.

“Daniel,” Connor mumbled through the fabric of his blanket.

The two others leaned forward. Hank was helping Daniel out of the back seat. He held the umbrella for them as they each carried a bag and made their way up to the front door.

“It is Daniel!” Kara said. She rolled off the couch and ran to the front door.

The others followed more slowly, arriving as Hank unlocked the door.

“Hi, Daniel!” Kara shouted, rushing forward and pulling him into a hug.

“Hi,” the other child said, his voice muffled by her shoulder.

“Thanks again for coming on such short notice,” Hank said to the babysitter.

“Oh it’s no problem at all,” she responded. She rustled Markus’ hair. “I love these little guys.”

“She tried to feed us poison,” Markus said, smoothing his hair down. 

The babysitter giggled at him and left, saying a quick goodbye to everyone.

“Kara, I can’t breath,” Daniel said.

Kara released him from his hug. “What are you doing here?”

“Daniel and his mother are going to be staying with us for a few days,” Hank told her.

Kara gasped. “A sleepover?”

“Something like that,” Hank said.

“Did you bring Emma?” Kara asked. 

Daniel nodded and pulled the doll out of his bag.

“Yay!” Kara grabbed his hand. “Let’s go play.” She led him upstairs.

Daniel followed Kara into her room. She grabbed Alive off the bed and spun around a few times. “This is going to be so great!”

Daniel nodded. He sat down on the bed, holding Emma in his arms and biting his lip.

Kara stopped twirling and sat down next to him. “Daniel, what’s wrong.”

Daniel’s eyes were watery. “It’s Emma,” he said. “She, she’s really scared.”

Kara looked down at the doll then back up at Daniel’s face. She wrapped an arm around the boy.

“She doesn't know what’s happening,” Daniel explained. “Mommy and Daddy were yelling. And then Mommy told us to pack a bag and we left.” Daniel let his tears fall on his face. He shook his head.

“Well,” Kara said, taking the doll from him. She smoothed down Emma’s hair. “Emma is always going to be safe here. You both are.”

Daniel sniffed and Kara pulled him into a tight hug.

*

Daniel’s mother, Elise, followed Hank into the kitchen, setting her bag down and sitting at the island as he poured them both a cup of coffee.

“I can’t thank you enough for what you’ve done for me,” Elise said, letting the mug of coffee warm her hands.

Hank leaned against the counter and sipped at his. “It’s no problem at all. Any decent human being would have done the same.”

Elise nodded and looked down. “I just can’t believe I let it get this bad.” She sighed. “I’m a terrible mother.”

“Hey,” Hank set his coffee down and walked around to her. “It’s alright. You are not a terrible mother.” Elise sobbed and Hank pulled her into a hug. 

Elise shook her head. “I let him hurt my baby.”

“And now you’re putting a stop to that.” Hank rubbed the woman’s back. “He’s never going to be able to hurt you or Daniel again.”

Elise sniffed and pulled back to look at him. “What if it’s too late? What if his life is ruined because of this.”

“Listen. Daniel is a strong boy. He’s going to come out of this just fine. I promise you.”

“Mommy?” 

The two adults looked over and Daniel and Kara were standing by the kitchen entrance. Daniel held Emma in his arms and shuffled his feet.

“C’mere, darling,” Elise said. She lifted Daniel into her lap.

“Is everything okay?” Daniel asked. “I’m just asking cause Emma’s a little worried.”

Elise smiled and kissed both Emma and Daniel on the head. “It will be now.”


	25. Halloween Heroes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Age 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Halloween all!

It had been difficult coming up with a group costume for the kids to wear this year. They were still young enough that they wanted to travel in matching costumes, but they each had different ideas of what those costumes should be.

“We should all be Disney characters,” Kara said. She spun around in her dress, hands above her head. “I wanna be Belle.”

“No way you’re getting me to be the beast,” Markus said. “We should all be wrestlers!” He stood up, ready to jump off the couch but Hank grabbed his shirt and pulled him back.

“No jumping off the furniture.”

“I wanna be a dog,” Connor said.

“But Connor you’re a dog every year,” Kara said, stilling her twirl.

“A different dog every year,” he replied.

Hank sat back and studied his kids. Kara wanted to be a strong and pretty princess, Markus wanted to be some kind of athlete, and Connor, as always, a dog. Then he noticed the pile of Markus’ comics splayed about on the coffee table. He wasn’t even angry he hadn’t cleaned it up when he told him cause it gave a perfect idea.

A month later and Hank wrangled them all together in the living room to add the finishing touches to their costumes. He adjusted the ears on Connor’s, helped Markus tie on his cape, and even supplied a costume roll of rope for Kara, who squealed in glee.

Superman, Wonder Woman, and Krypto. Damn, he was good.

He walked them all to the door as the sun started to set. 

Kara turned around to face. “You aren’t going to follow us around like last year are you?”

“Yeah,” Markus added. “It’s really uncool when you’re so obvious about it.”

Hank chuckled, remembering the last year when he had promised them he would let them go out trick-or-treating alone. This year, however, he meant it.

“I’ll be good,” he said, smiling down at them. “Just remember to stick together alright? I want you all looking out for one another.”

“Don’t worry, Dad,” Kara said. “We’re eleven now. We’re practically adults.”

Hank scoffed. “Well, you practical adults be sure to call if anything happens alright?”

“We will,” Markus said. He grabbed Connor’s hand and led the other two down the steps. Hank sat on the stoop with the bucket of candy to hand out and nervously watched them fade down the street.

 

A few streets later the trio stopped to take stock of their goods. 

“Man look at all this candy,” Markus said, shoving his head in his bag. 

“This is going to last us months!” Kara exclaimed. 

Connor, already sucking on a lollipop, pulled out a sticker and held it up proudly to his siblings.

“Well, well, well,” a voice from the shadows said. “If it isn’t the Anderson twerps.” Gavin and two other older boys approached the group.

Kara pulled Connor behind her. “Get lost, Gavin,” she said.

“Give me your candy and I’ll think about it,” Gavin said, a sneer on his face.

“Not a chance,” Markus said, stepping up to him.

Gavin reached forward for his bag. Markus jumped back but one of the other older boys grabbed him, throwing him to the floor. Kara yelled out and knelt on the ground next to Markus. Laughing, Gavin grabbed his bag of candy.

The older boy weighed the bag in his hand, humming. “I guess this’ll cover ya. For now.”

The three boys laughed and walked away, disappearing around the corner. Markus sniffed and let Kara pull him to his feet. 

“Jerks,” he said.

“We have to do something,” Connor whispered.

“What?” Markus and Kara asked, turning to him.

“You’re Superman,” Connor said. “And WonderWoman.” He placed his hands on his hips. “And I’m Krypto.”

Kara nodded and looked at Markus. “They wouldn’t let Gavin and his jerks get away.”

Markus’ face hardened. “You’re right. We’re getting that candy back.”

They followed the trail of crying kids whose candy had also been stolen to the abandoned house a few blocks away. Every neighborhood had one. The ‘haunted’ house that everyone was too afraid to go in on, especially on Halloween. Everyone, that was, except for Gavin and his friends.

“I don’t know if I wanna go in there,” Kara said, grabbing Connor’s arm and pulling in close. “It’s scary.”

“We have to be brave,” Markus said, his voice cracking a bit. “We’re heroes.”

Kara nodded and she and Connor followed Markus into the house. They stopped when the front window shutter knocked in the wind. Kara squealed, holding onto Connor’s arm even tighter. They heard a scuffling from the room to the right. 

“They must have the candy in there,” Markus said.

“Or it’s a ghost,” Kara said.

They crept closer. The door was cracked open and inside they could see Gavin and one of his friends dividing more candy into three large bags.

“Those scum,” Markus said.

Kara reached down to the play whip at her hip, forgetting that it was glued into a permanent spiral. The floor creaked behind them. The three slowly turned around. A small spectral being raised their arms and shouted, “Boo!”

 

Kara screamed and jumped back. Gavin’s other friend wiped the makeup off on his sleeve, laughing at them.

“That wasn’t funny,” Kara said, fighting back tears. 

Connor looked at her, looked at the teen, and then pulled back and punched the boy in his face. The older boy stumbled back, holding his nose. 

“What the hell is going on out there?” Gavin pulled the door back open and stared at the four of them.

Without a second thought, Markus charged forward, tackling Gavin to the ground. “Grab the candy!”

The other friend, too shocked at what had just happened, did nothing as Kara and Connor grabbed the three sacks and ran from the house. They stopped at the street, turning back to the front door.

“Markus?” Kara asked.

Markus appeared a second later, racing out of the house with Gavin and company following him. “Run!” he shouted, gesturing away. “Run!”

 

He didn’t have to tell them twice. The three kids ran for all they were worth, clutching the sacks of candy tight. They kept running even after Gavin gave up. They finally stopped at a little park, breathing heavily and hunching over their knees.

“We did it!” Kara shouted, jumping up and pulling her brothers into a hug.

“We’re heroes,” Connor said, his voice muffled by her shoulder.

They pulled apart and looked down at the candy bags, one spilling out at their feet.

“I...don’t suppose there’s any chance we could just keep it all, right?” Markus asked, looking a little sheepish.

“Markus,” Kara said, glaring at him.

“I was just kidding.” Markus picked up one of the bags. “C’mon Superteam, we’ve got work to do.”


	26. Road Trip

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Age 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hate to say it, but I had two older brothers and I used to be such a Chloe.  
> It's a wonder they didn't murder me tbh

“I’m not touching you,” Chloe said. She reached over from her car seat, her finger hovering over Gavin’s face. Gavin scowled. “I’m not touching you.”

“You better stop,” he snapped at her.

“Stop what?” She asked, giggling. “I’m not touching you.”

Gavin grumbled and turned, punching the toddler in her arm. Chloe pulled her hand back and opened her mouth, letting out a series of screams, tears flowing down her face.

Elijah turned around from the passenger seat, glaring back at the five children. Kara sat in the center of the middle row, playing with her doll. Markus was drawing something on a small pad. Connor was asleep against the window. And his two kids were in the back, Chloe crying, and Gavin scowling at her.

“What’s going on back there?”

“G-G-Gavin, h-h-h-it me!” Chloe sobbed.

“She was annoying me,” Gavin said.

“That’s no excuse to hit someone,” Elijah said. He turned back around. “Apologize.”

“But dad-”

“Now!”

Gavin huffed and crossed his arms, sinking into this seat. “Sorry.”

Chloe’s tears dried up and he stuck her tongue out at him.

Elijah shook his head. “I don’t know how you do it with three,” he said to Hank, who drove the van.

Hank shook his head. “Some days, neither do I.”

*

“Are we there yet?” Kara asked. 

“It’s only been three hours,” Hank told her.

“So are we there yet?”

“No.” Hank looked at the GPS system. They still had five hours to go. He groaned.

Connor mumbled something. Hank glanced at him in the mirror. “Connor, I can’t understand you with your sleeve in your mouth.”

Connor pulled his arm away, the edge of his sleeve soaked with saliva. “Pee,” he said.

Markus squirmed in his seat. “I gotta pee too.”

“Me three,” Chloe chimed in from the back.

Hank looked at the clock. It had taken them two hours just to get the kids loaded in the car, and they had stopped five times already to pee and stretch. Maybe it was time for lunch.

The little group pulled into a rest area, Hank filling up the van’s gas as Elijah helped all four kids out of their seats. Gavin stood to the side, arms crossed, scowling.

“Keep this attitude up and you’ll be sorry,” Elijah told him, setting Chloe down on the ground. The toddler stuck her tongue out at him and the kid rolled his eyes.

Hank pulled the van into a parking spot as Elijah led the kids into the food court.

“I want chicken nuggies!” Chloe said, pulling on her dad’s arm. 

“Me too!” Kara said. “With the apple slices.”

Connor grabbed onto Markus’ arm and squished up against him, away from the crowd of people inside. Markus patted him reassuringly on the head. 

“It’s okay, Connor,” he said. “Dad will be in soon.”

“Nuggets for everyone?” Elijah asked, looking at the group of children surrounding him.

Everyone but Gavin nodded. The child crossed his arms and frowned. “I want a cheeseburger.”

Elijah sighed. “If you must.”

Gavin’s scowl increased. Connor reached his free hand out to him but he pushed it away. Connor started to tear up but Hank walked in at the right moment. Connor turned his sad face to him and Hank picked him up, patting him gently on the back.

They moved through the line, ordered their food, and decided it may be best to get back on the road, eating in the car.

“But Dad, you never let us eat in the car,” Kara said as he strapped her into her car seat. 

“Well today is a special occasion,” Hank said, smiling at her. “Besides, the van needs a good cleaning anyway so what’s a few more stains?”

As they bumped along the road, the kids started out fine. A few drops of ketchup found its way on their clothes and car seats, but most of the food and drink actually made it into their mouths.

“You’re gonna spill,” Gavin said, grabbing the half-tipped bottle of chocolate milk from Chloe’s hand.

“Give it back!” Chloe yelled. She reached out but Gavin held it away.

“You can have it back when you need a drink.”

“Daaaaad!” Chloe started crying again. “Gavin stole my chocolate milk!”

Elijah didn’t bother turning around. “Gavin, give your sister back her milk.”

“She was going to spill it everywhere,” Gavin said.

“You can’t just take things from people,” Elijah said. He looked at Gavin in the rear-view mirror. “It’s illegal.”

Gavin rolled his eyes and gave Chloe her milk. He slumped into his seat. “Just gonna yell at me when she does,” he mumbled.

“What was that, young man?” 

“Nothing.”

*

They stopped another hour later. 

“At this rate, we’re never gonna get there,” Hank said to Elijah as the kids ran out their energy in the little picnic area.

“It was your idea to bring them,” Elijah reminded him.

“Hey, they’re young. They freak out if I’m five minutes late picking them up from school. I leave them for the whole weekend? They’re gonna go postal.”

Elijah chuckled.

“You’re it!” Chloe said, touching Connor on the arm. She and the other younger kids ran away.

Connor looked down at where she touched his arm and then looked to her, not moving.

“Connor you have to chase us,” Kara explained. 

Connor started walking towards Markus, who swiftly ran out of the way. Connor watched him run away, then looked at Kara and Chloe who both stood ready to sprint. With a slight frown on his face, Connor walked up to Gavin who stood to the side with his arms crossed. Connor reached out and touched Gavin’s leg, then stood back and looked at him.

“I’m not playing, kid,” Gavin said. Connor reached out and touched him again. “Get lost!”

“Hey!’ Chloe ran up to them. “You can’t yell at Connor like that.”

“I can do whatever I want,” Gavin said. “Now leave me alone, twerp.”

“You meanie.” 

Chloe kicked at Gavin’s leg. In retaliation, Gavin shoved her. Chloe fell to the ground. After a brief second of silence, she started crying in big, heavy sobs. Connor stepped back, staring at her with wide eyes and Markus and Kara raced over to them.

As did Hank and Elijah.

“What happened?” Elijah asked, picking the girl up into his arms and rubbing her back as she sobbed.

“He pushed me!” Chloe cried out.

“She kicked me!” Gavin countered.

“You are not allowed to hit your sister,” Elijah snapped at him. “We already discussed this earlier.”

“But she hit me first!”

“That’s no excuse. If she hits you you come to me, you don’t retaliate.”

Gavin crossed his arms. “You wouldn’t believe me anyway.”

“Get in the car,” Elijah ordered.

“But-”

“Now! And you are grounded the second we get home.”

Gavin scowled and stomped off to the van.

“Next time,” Elijah said to Hank, “we fly.”


	27. Bring your delinquents to work

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Age 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In this universe, Elijah works in cyber security at the DPD

If the first day of school is the best day of a parent’s year, bring your kid to work day was the worst. Especially if you had three kids to bring to work. Hank opened the door to the van, watching his brood of children pour out. 

Kara had insisted on wearing a business suit and refused to go unless Hank got her one. He had to admit, though, that she looked absolutely adorable in it. Markus had brought his ‘detecting’ pad, a notebook Hank had bought him with an overly-sized pen. Connor stepped out last, biting his lip and looking around the parking lot.

“Let’s go over the rules,” Hank said, placing his hands on his hips and looked down at them.

“Ugh,” Markus said, rolling his eyes. “Again?”

“There will be no yelling, or running,” Hank said. “You will stay within my field of vision at all times and you will not bother anyone if they are busy. Understand?”

“Yes, Dad,” Kara said. “We understood it the fifth time you said it.”

“Good. Because anyone who breaks these rules will be grounded for a week. Now let’s go.”

Kara and Markus sped ahead, being sure to not technically run. Connor walked next to Hank, holding his hand and looking at all the parked cars. 

“Connor!” A young voice called from behind. Hank and Connor stopped and turned. Chloe ran up to them, wrapping Connor in a hug. “Isn’t this just the best day!?” She squeezed him tighter, their cheeks squishing together.

Elijah walked up behind her, Gavin trudging slowly behind him. “I hope you’re prepared,” he said to Hank. 

“I have three kids,” Hank said. “I’m never prepared.”

“Daaaaaaad,” Kara said, holding onto the handle to the office door. “Can we go now?”

“We’re coming,” he told her. 

Chloe grabbed Connor’s hand and pulled him towards the building.

“Are you excited for the day, Gavin?” Hank asked as the three of them joined the younger children at the door.

“I guess,” Gavin said, shrugging. “Better than school.”

The office was full of other kids. Most of them were older, like Gavin, and also like Gavin, they were just looking for an excuse to miss school. They sat around playing games and futzing about. Hank shook his head. Kids these days.

“Dad, can I stay up here with Connor?” Chloe asked. “No offense but the basement is yucky.”

Elijah chuckled at her. “Of course you can. Gavin, keep an eye on your sister.”

“Yeah, fine,” Gavin said.

“C’mon, Connor,” Chloe said, dragging Connor away. “I’ll show you all the cool places.”

Gavin grumbled and followed them away. 

Hank sat down at his desk, Markus and Kara in tow. 

“I’m gonna go detect things!” Markus said, putting his pen to his pad and squinting around the room.

“Can I help you with a case, Dad?” Kara asked. She pulled up an empty chair and sat next to him, her legs swinging.

“Sure, kiddo,” Hank said. He booted up his computer and gave a glance at the room. Connor and Chloe were over by the copy machines. Chloe was on her toes, trying to push the buttons, and Gavin was grabbing her arms, trying to pull her back. Markus was standing next to someone’s desk, making notes as they worked. 

“Are we gonna solve some murders?” Kara asked. She rearranged herself, sitting up on her knees and leaning over Hank’s desk.

“Not directly,” Hank said. “Being Lieutenant comes with some perks.” He smirked at her. “We’re going to delegate.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means someone else does all the work but we get the credit.”

“Cool.”

-

“Don’t you have anything better to do than make notes of my typing?” the officer asked Markus, glancing over at the kid.

“You’re the lead suspect in my case,” Markus informed him. “I have to keep my eye on you.” 

The officer turned his chair, leaning on his knees and studying the child. “And exactly what case is this you’re working on?”

“The case of the missing sugar!” The officer raised an eyebrow at him. “The sugar packets in the break room have been going missing. And you’ve had a suspicious amount of coffee this morning.”

The officer chuckled at him and turned back to his work. Markus made note of that.

Another child his age wandered up to him. “Hi,” the kid said.

“Hi,” Markus said back, scribbling down random words on his pad.

The kid looked down at Markus’ pad. “What are you doing?”

“I’m solving a case,” Markus whispered. “Wanna help?”

“Sure! I’m Chris by the way.”

“I’m Markus.”

The two walked back to the break room. Markus pointed up at the coffee making station. “We’re missing several packets of sugar.”

“Oh,” Chris said. He shuffled his feet and reached into his pocket. “I thought they were free I’m sorry.” He pulled out a handful of sugar packets and held them out to Markus, looking down at the ground.

“Case solved!” Markus said. “I’m pretty sure they are anyway,” he said. 

“Oh. Good.” Chris stuck the packets back in his pocket. “Hey, check it out.” He walked over to the fridge and opened it. “There’s all this free food here too.”

“Really?” Markus asked. He pulled a bag out of the fridge and studied it. “Are you sure it’s free? They have names written on them.”

Chris pulled an apple out and bit into it. “I’m pretty sure that’s just so we know who brought it in. You know, so we can write them thank you letters and stuff.”

“Ohhhh,” Markus said. “Cool, brownies!”

-

Chloe pulled Connor around the corner, holding him against the wall. Gavin walked past, calling out Chloe’s name. She giggled and then pulled Connor the opposite way.

“This place is so boring looking,” Chloe said, scanning the walls. “We should brighten it up a bit!”

“How?” Connor asked, his hand trailing across the smooth surface.

“We color it of course,” Chloe said. She walked up to the nearest empty desk and grabbed a handful of pens. She handed a red one to Connor and used the blue one to start drawing various shapes on the wall. “C’mon, Connor. It’s fun.”

Connor whimpered a bit but uncapped his pen and joined her in drawing.

“What are you two doing?” Gavin asked, running up to them. 

“Hey!” Chloe protested as he snatched the pens from their hands.

“You guys are going to be in so much trouble,” Gavin said.

Connor bit his lip, his eyes starting to water up.

“You big jerk!” Chloe said. She kicked Gavin’s leg and he jumped back, bouncing on the other, holding it. Chloe grabbed Connor’s hand and the two of them raced away, Gavin bouncing after them.

They rounded the corner behind Fowler’s office, running smack into Chris and Markus. The four kids fell to the floor, the food that Markus and Chris had taken with them sprawling out on the floor.

“What is this?” Gavin asked, hands on his hips, watching the food roll around.

“It’s the free food we got,” Markus said, sitting up and rubbing his forehead.

“We got it from the break room,” Chris clarified.

“You idiots,” Gavin said. “That’s not free food. Those are people’s lunches.”

“Oh,” Chris said. “That’s not good.”

“What’s going on back here?” Fowler asked, coming around the other corner.

“Uh-oh,” Chloe said.

-

The kids sat at Hank’s desk, watching Fowler talking to Hank and Elijah in his office.

“At least it doesn’t look like he’s yelling,” Markus said. “That’s good right?”

“Do you think we’re in a lot of trouble?” Chloe asked.

“I’m not,” Kara said, sitting in Hank’s chair and smirking at the others. “Because I didn’t break the rules.”

Connor held Markus’ hand, crying silently.

“Don’t worry, Connor,” Markus said, patting his arm gently. “You know Dad can’t stay mad at us for long.”

They all settled down as Hank and Elijah emerged from the office and walked towards them.

“Gavin, Chloe, come with me,” Elijah said. He didn’t give them a second look before turning around and heading towards the stairs.

“Bye, Connor,” Chloe said, giving him a frown before following her dad and brother.

Hank stood before his children, arms crossed, face stoic.

“He’s not saying anything,” Markus whispered.

“You two are grounded,” Hank said, pointing at them. They both frowned, their eyes growing wider. “No cute faces,” he said, shaking his head. “You knew the rules, you knew the consequences for breaking the rules, and you still broke them. Grounded.”

Markus huffed and slouched down in his seat, crossing his arms. Connor just hung his head, looking down at the ground. 

“You are going to sit here and behave for the rest of the day and next year you’re going to school.”

Kara scooted out of his chair and he sat down. “Dad? I still get to come next year right?”

Hank squinted at her. “I’ll think about it.”

Kara smiled at her brothers and sat down next to them, humming softly to herself. She liked not being in trouble.


	28. Double Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> age 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear, I promise you, Markus is more than just a love sick puppy.  
> BUT COME ONE IT"S SIMON  
> He can't help it

Connor fidgeted with the ends of his jacket. He stood in the foray, listening to Hank give Markus the rundown of the night’s rules.

“Dad, I know,” Markus said, walking out of the dining room, rolling his eyes.

“I don’t want to get another call from Simon’s parents about you keeping him out too late,” Hank said, following him. 

“It happened one time,” Markus said. “And I already apologized.”

Hank pointed at him. “And it better not happen again.”

“It won’t. Can we go now?”

Hank squinted at him. “Home by ten.”

“Ten?”

“Ten.”

“But-”

“Ten’s fine,” Connor said, interrupting them. He shuffled his feet. “But we’re going to be late.”

“Sorry, Con,” Markus said. “Dad’s being unreasonable.”

Hank clapped his two sons on the back. “You two have fun tonight,” he said. He glanced at Markus. “But not too much fun.”

“God, Dad, chill.” Markus wrapped an arm around Connor’s shoulders and led him outside. “We’ll be back later.”

“At ten!” Hank called after them.

“He can be so controlling sometimes,” Markus mumbled as he and Connor walked down the sidewalk. “I mean what’s he think I’m gonna do? Get him pregnant or something?”

Connor gave a distant chuckle. “Yeah.”

“You alright, Con?” Markus asked. He took his arm back, leaning slightly to look at Connor’s face.

Connor nodded. “Just...uh...nervous.”

“I understand,” Markus said. “I get the same way with Simon. Just remember, she already agreed to go out with you. She really likes you, man.”

“I really like her too,” Connor said, glancing up at Markus. “What if I mess up?”

“Don’t worry,” Markus said. “I’m here. I won’t let you do anything too stupid okay?”

Connor sighed and nodded. “Good.”

-

The brothers walked the last couple of blocks to the pizza place they were going to have dinner at. The noise of the arcade half of the restaurant spilled out into the street as Markus held the door open for Connor. Chloe waved over to them from a booth in the center of the room.

Markus slid into the seat opposite her and Connor slid in next to him. Markus shook his head at him.

“Hey, Chloe,” Markus said.

“Hi, Markus,” she replied. “Hi, Connor.”

“Uhm, hello,” Connor said.

Chloe smiled at him. “I haven’t seen Simon yet. He’s coming isn’t he?”

“He should be here soon,” Markus said. He stood up a bit, looking back at the door. “You know what? I’ll go give him a call.”

He nudged at Connor and the two slid out. Connor gingerly slid back in. He twitched a smile at Chloe and then looked down at the table, twirling his thumbs.

-

Markus slid into the seat opposite of Simon’s table, keeping an eye on the booth Connor and Chloe were at.

“Uhm, any particular reason you asked me to get this table?” Simon asked. “That only fits two? Weren’t we having a double with Connor and Chloe.”

“They need to be alone,” Markus said. His constant vigil over Connor’s date was interrupted when he finally glanced over at Simon. The teen was wearing the red turtleneck sweater he had worn on their first official date. “You’re wearing the sweater.”

Simon smiled and blushed. “Well, I know how much you like it.”

“I love you,” Markus said. 

He grabbed Simon’s hands across the table and looked into his eyes. He was about to move in for a kiss when a young woman popped up next to them.

“Welcome to Pizza Pete’s,” she said, almost yelled really. “What can I get for you two?”

Markus frowned. 

“We’ll have a medium,” Simon told her. “Half plain cheese and half pepperoni. And two sodas.”

“And get a vegetarian lovers pizza for that booth over there,” Markus said, pointing over at Connor and Chloe.

“Yeah, they’re not really in my sector,” the woman said. “I can’t do that.”

“Well then tell whoever’s sector it is to get them one. It’s a thin. Trust me.”

The woman sighed and walked away. Markus returned to stalking his brother. They were just sitting in their booth, not talking, both avoiding looking at each other.

“So,” Simon said. “Why are we spying on Connor and Chloe.”

“Cause I knew they wouldn’t talk or anything if we were there. They gotta have time to themselves.”

Simon raised an eyebrow and glanced over his shoulder. “They seem to be doing enough of that without us there.”

“They just need to adjust,” Markus ensured him. “It’s going great.”

Simon smiled at him and once again Markus forgot his mission.

-

Connor glanced up at Chloe again. She was looking out at the arcade section, watching some kids play skee ball.

“Uhm,” Connor said.

“Hm?” Chloe asked, turning to look at him.

“Oh? Nothing.” Connor looked back down at the table.

Chloe gave him a soft smile. “Connor.” She reached over and gently touched his hand, her skin warm against his chill. “I know that we’re dating now, and that changes some things, but this doesn’t have to be weird.”

Connor snapped his head up. “It doesn’t?”

Chloe chuckled. “Of course not. We can still just be like we were. Only now we get to hold hands and kiss and stuff.”

“I liked the kiss,” Connor said.

“So did I.”

“So,” Connor’s gaze wandered. “That test in Mr. Finici’s class was killer.”

“Right?” Chloe settled back down in her seat. “I took a look at that first question and just knew I was going to fail.”

“I’m sure you aced it,” Connor said. “You’re really smart.”

-

“Looks like they’re finally getting the hang of things,” Simon said, glancing over his shoulder.

“Who?” Markus asked. He was leaning on his elbows, staring at Simon. He followed the teen’s gaze and then sat up straight. “Oh yeah! See? I told you it was a good idea.”

“Uh-huh.” Simon turned back around. “And you’re sure this was completely motivated by their date and not ours.”

“Why, Simon,” Markus said, putting a hand to his chest. “I’m shocked you would insinuate such a thing.”

Simon laughed at him. “You are too cute for your own good.”

Markus winked at him.

-

“Okay, I got a vegetarian pizza and two sodas,” a young man said, setting down the pizza and drinks at Connor and Chloe’s table.

“Uhm, I don’t think we ordered yet,” Chloe said.

“Well, it’s on my sheet. So enjoy.” The man walked away and Chloe and Connor exchanged a glance.

“Hey,” Chloe said, looking around. “Where did Markus go?”

“Markus?” Connor asked. “Oh yeah.” He joined Chloe in looking around, scanning the arcade section for them.

“I found the culprit,” Chloe said. She pointed across the room at Markus, who was trying to hide behind his drink glass and Simon, who was laughing at him.

Eventually, Simon pulled himself together and made Markus get up, carrying their stuff over to the booth.

“It was his idea,” Simon said, sliding in next to Connor.

“Well it worked,” Markus said.

Chloe shook her head. “You are ridiculous. I don’t know how you can stand him,” she said to Simon.

“It takes a lot of effort,” Simon said, a grin on his face.

“You all are mean,” Markus said, scowling at them.

“And you abandoned me,” Connor said. “So you deserve it.”

“Wow, Connor,” Markus said, shaking his head. “Betrayed by my own family.”

-

After finishing eating their pizza, the four teens wandered over to the arcade space. Chloe gasped upon seeing the prize counter. “You guys,” she said, tugging on Connor’s arm. “Look at the size of that zebra!”

“That is a seriously big zebra,” Markus agreed, gazing up at the stuffed animal.

“It’s 10,000 tickets,” Connor said.

“We can totally get that,” Simon said.

Chloe gasped again, spinning around to face the three boys. “Really?”

“Oh totally,” Markus said. “Right, Connor?”

“Oh, uhm. Yes. We are capable. With...copious amounts of money.”

“I’m a pro at skeeball, trust me,” Simon said. “We got this.”

They played for the next two hours. When they went to tally their tickets, they only had 3,000.

“Aw,” Chloe said. “Well, we made a good effort.”

“There’s a mini zebra for 2,500,” Simon suggested.

“Guys we can get to 10,000,” Markus said.

“It’s 9:30,” Connor reminded him. “We have to leave if we want to be home by ten.”

“Yeah but when Dad says ten he really means eleven,” Markus said.

“I don’t-I don’t think that’s true.”

“Trust me,” Markus said. “It’ll be fine. We gotta get that zebra.” He leaned over whispering in Connor’s ear. “You know, for Chloe.”

Connor looked over at the teen in question. She was chatting with Simon over the prizes in the counter. “You’re right,” he said. “We win the zebra.”

“That’s my boy.”

They kept playing, burning a hole in their respective wallets. They’re focus and fun was interrupted by a voice on the P.A. announcing that Pizza Pete’s would close in five minutes.

“Oh shit,” Simon said. “It’s almost midnight? We are in so much trouble.”

“And we don’t even have enough,” Chloe said, stepping away from the counter. “5,100.” She frowned. “Thanks for trying guys. I appreciate it.”

“No problem,” Markus said. “Just wish we could have gotten it. C’mon Connor. We should go.”

“One second,” Connor said. He was hunched over a game, with a light spinning in a circle. His eyes tracked the light, his finger twitching over the button. “The jackpot is 5,000.”

“No one ever wins that game, Connor,” Chloe said. She placed a hand on his back. “It’s impossible.”

“Difficult,” Connor corrected her. “It swaps between a series of calculated patterns. The only problem is it’s random which it’s gonna do next.”

“You think you can do it?” Markus asked.

“I know I can.” Connor pushed hard on the button. The four teens watched with bated breath. They broke out into a group scream when the light landed in the Jackpot space.

“You did it, Connor!” Chloe yelled. She jumped up and down then wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him on the cheek.

The clerk behind the desk was already pulling the zebra plush down from the wall. Chloe grabbed it, hugging it to her tightly.

“I’m naming him Connor,” she said. “After my hero.”

Connor blushed and looked down at the ground, rubbing the back of his head.

“You still have a hundred tickets,” the clerk said. “And three minutes.”

Markus leaned over the counter. “Oh! A ring pop.”

The clerk rolled his eyes and handed him the candy. Markus smirked and turned to face Simon.

“For you,” he said, holding the ring pop out to him.

Simon giggled. “Is this supposed to make up for keeping me out so late?”

Markus shrugged. “Does it.”

Simon took the candy. “Yes, it does.” He leaned forward and kissed him.

-

“Dad is going to be furious,” Connor said as he and Markus walked home in the cool spring air.

“Yeah,” Markus said. “Don’t worry though. I’ll take the blame. I mean how much more grounded can I get?”

“No,” Connor said. “It was a joint decision. We should share the blame.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Besides.” He grinned. “It was totally worth it.”


	29. Alice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Age 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There has not been enough luthara in this and for that, I appologize

Kara re-read the email again making sure she had seen it right. Then she yelled out in joy, running down the stairs screaming, “Yes, yes, yes!” She rounded the corner to the dining room, holding her hands out triumphantly at her dad and brothers, who had already started eating breakfast. “I’m gonna be a big sister!”

Connor and Markus turned their heads in unison to look at Hank. Spoon still half-way to his mouth the man shrugged, saying, “Don’t look at me. Three of you is enough.”

“The big sister little sister program I applied to last month,” Kara reminded them. 

The three of them looked at her with blank expressions.

“That’s...great?” Hank said, trying to think about what the program was.

Kara sighed, lowering her arms. “It’s a program that matches up cool teens like me to underprivileged kids to help them have, like fun and stuff. Basically it’s my one chance a week to get out of this man cave of a house and do girl things.”

Markus snorted. “If you think this house is a man cave you clearly haven't seen Dad’s new oven mitt.”

“Hey,” Hank said, still chewing on his cereal. “Flowers are manly.”

Kara rolled her eyes at them and sighed. “Next week can’t come fast enough.”  
-  
Kara walked into the community center rec room a nervous wreck. Her eyes scanned over the young girls in the room, some already been paired up with their big sisters. She wondered which one would be hers.

“Kara?” A woman asked, walking up to her. A young girl in a pink coat trailed behind her, looking up at Kara with big brown eyes.

“Uhm, yes,” Kara said. She swallowed and bit her lip. “Hi.”

“This is Alice,” the woman said. She stepped to the side a bit, placing a hand on Alice’s head. “Alice, this is Kara. She’s going to be your big sister.”

“Hi,” Kara repeated, waving at the girl. Her legs felt weak, the sudden responsibility of being a big sister finally dawning on her.

The girl didn’t say anything, just looked at her. Kara looked to the woman for help but she had moved on, introducing more couples. 

Kara cleared her throat and knelt down next to Alice. “How old are you?”

Alice fidgeted with her coat. “Seven,” she said, her voice soft.

“Second grade huh?” Alice looked down at the ground. “Do you like school?”

Alice just shrugged. Kara sighed, then thought of something.

“Hey, you know what, Alice? Your name is special.”

Alice looked up at her, head tilted, eyes squinted a bit. “Really?”

Kara nodded. “You see, when I was younger, I had a doll. She and I were best friends. And guess what? Her name was Alice too.”

Alice’s eyes grew wider. “Really?”

“Yep. She was my very best friend.” She reached a touch to Alice’s arm. “Think we could be pals like that?”

Alice tilted her head, chewing on her lip. “Uhm, yeah!”  
-  
“Remind me what we’re doing here again,” Luther said, following Kara as she wandered through the aisles of the toy store. 

“She’s never had a doll, Luther,” Kara explained. It had been a month since Kara and Alice had been hanging out. Last week Kara had pulled doll Alice out from the attic, showing her to human Alice. The girl admitted to never having played with one.

“Lots of kids don’t have dolls,” Luther said. “It’s not entirely uncommon.”

“Yes but she’s so sweet! And soft and cute and she deserves all the dolls, okay? All of them!”

They turned down the doll aisle and Luther let out a low whistle. “I don’t think you can afford all of them.”

“Wow,” Kara said, eyes scanning the shelves full of different dolls. “Dolls sure have changed since I was a kid.”

“Look, Kara,” Luther said, pointing up to a doll on his left. “This one looks just like you.”

“Oh my gosh it does!” Kara reached over pulling the doll down. She held it up next to her face, smiling at Luther.

“Uncanny,” he said, smiling at her.

“Oh and look!” Kara moved down the aisle to where the small section of boys dolls was. She picked one up and held it out to Luther. “This one looks like you.”

Luther chuckled and walked down to her. “It sure does.”

“Now we just have to make them kiss,” Kara said. She giggled and pushed the two boxes together, making a smooch noise. 

She pulled the boxes apart, laughing. Luther bent over, placing a small kiss to her lips. “Like that?” he asked.

Kara blushed and smiled at him. “No,” she said, closing the distance between them. “Like this.” She stood up on her toes and kissed him proper, pulling back with a grin.

Luther looked at her with stars in his eyes. “Much better,” he said.

Kara blushed harder and turned back to the dolls. “Now, let’s find the one for Alice.”  
-  
The next week Alice showed up at Kara’s house all smiles and sunshine.

“Hi, Alice,” Kara said, giving the girl a hug as she entered the house. “I’ve got a surprise for you.”

“What is it, what is it?” Alice asked, jumping up and down excitedly.

Kara chuckled at her and led her into the playroom-turned office. For that day, however, they had transformed it back into a tea room much like the ones Hank would set up for her doll parties.

Alice gasped, staring wide-eyed around the room. “This is beautiful.” Kara had set up the little table, even placing doll Alice on her old little seat. Her and Luther had hung up decorations and picked some classy music to play in the background.

Alice spotted Luther standing by the window. She shrank away, grabbing onto Kara’s arm.

“It’s okay, Alice,” Kara said. “This is my boyfriend, Luther.”

“Hello,” Luther said. He walked up to Alice, kneeling down before her, holding his hands behind his back.

“Hi,” Alice said, smiling softly at him.

“Would you like your present?” Luther asked.

Alice nodded enthusiastically. She held her hands out and Luther brought the doll around from behind his back, placing it in her open arms.

Alice squealed and hugged the doll close. “This is for me?” She asked, looking up at Kara.

Kara nodded. “You deserve it.”

Alice turned around, hugging Kara. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!” she said. She spun back around, wrapping her arms around Luther, repeating the same phrase.

 

Luther and Kara chuckled.

“Now,” Kara said, leading them over to the table. “We must christen her with a tea party.”

Alice sat down, giggling. “You are the best big sister ever.”


	30. Christmas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> age 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wooooe I was really worried I wasn't going to finish this in time like the *cough cough* Thanksgiving story that's still in progress.  
> Anyway, sorry for all the radio silence. If I ever say it's a good idea to work at the post office over Christmas just go ahead and slap me.

Hank placed the plate of cookies down on the table and wiped his hands on his pants. “Don’t spill that, now,” he said, turning to Kara.

She was holding a glass of milk in her hands, watching it slosh a bit as she walked. “I got it,” she said.

“Dad,” Markus said from the couch. “How exactly does Santa get to every house in the whole wide world?” He tested the flashlight he was holding, shining the beam at the fireplace.

“Not everybody celebrates Christmas,” Hank told him, taking the glass from Kara and putting it next to the cookies. “So it’s more like, maybe forty percent of the world’s houses.”

“That’s still a lot of houses to make in one night.”

“Uh, time zones,” Hank said. He picked up the blanket on the couch and Kara crawled in. 

“Time zones?” Markus asked, his face scrunched up. “That’s really what you’re going with?’

“We can ask him ourselves when we catch him red-handed!” Kara said. She grabbed her own flashlight, aiming it at the tree in the corner.

Hank smiled at them and tucked Kara under the blanket. He looked back over to the table but Connor wasn’t there. He sighed and backtracked to the kitchen, where Connor sat on the floor, petting Sumo in his lap.

“Alright, kid,” Hank said. He picked Connor up, gently pushing Sumo out of the way. “It’s bedtime.”

“Can Sumo sleep on the couch?” Connor asked in a whisper.

Hank chuckled. “If he can fit.”

Hank took Connor back to the living room and placed him under the blanket between Markus and Kara. Connor leaned his head against Markus’ shoulder, his eyes already closing.

“Now get some sleep,” Hank told them. “Remember, Santa won’t come if you’re awake.”

“And when he does, we’ll be ready!” Markus shone his light at the fireplace again, making a lightsaber noise.

“That should probably concern me,” Hank said.

He tucked each of them in, kissing the tops of their heads. 

“Night, Daddy,” Kara said, yawning softly.

“Night, sweetie,” Hank whispered back. 

He shut off the light watching Kara and Connor curl up while Markus sat at attention, flashlight trained on the fireplace. Hank shook his head and chuckled. He sat down in the hallway where they couldn’t see him, watching Markus’ light, waiting for it to fall as he fell asleep. He looked at his watch, hoping it wouldn’t be long.

-

“Daddy,” A voice whispered. “Why are you sleeping on the floor?”

Hank shook his head, eyes popping open. Connor stood before him, head tilted to the side. Hank sat up, stretching a bit, a terrible crick in his neck.

“Connor?” he asked. He checked his watch. It was 1 in the morning. “What are you doing out of bed?”

“Water,” Connor said.

“Right.” Hank groaned and pulled himself to his feet. “C’mon, let’s get you some water and back to bed, hm?”

Connor nodded and Hank picked him up, carrying him to the kitchen. He got him a glass of water and then carried him back to the living room, snuggling him back between the kicking Kara and the snoring Markus.

“Look, Daddy,” Connor said, pointing over Hank’s shoulder. “Santa came.”

Hank raised an eyebrow and spun around. The tree was lit up against the night, lights reflecting against the brightly wrapped presents under it. He stood up straight, scratching the back of his head. He didn’t remember getting up and putting the presents together…

His gaze wandered to the fireplace where the stockings had been stuffed full. He didn’t remember buying that much candy…

“Guess he did,” Hank said. He turned back, tucking Connor back inside the blankets.

“Can we open?” Connor asked, his eyes lighting up.

Hank chuckled and kissed his forehead. “Not yet. Go back to bed and we can open in the morning.”

“It is morning,” Connor whispered. His eyes closed and opened a few droopy times.

Hank ruffled his hair a bit. “Got me there.”

-

“Dad, Dad, wake up it’s Christmas!”

Hank felt a lump jump on his bed, the mattress shaking as they jumped up and down. Hank grumbled and rolled over, catching the culprit and pulling them down to the bed.

Markus laughed. “C’mon Dad get up! We’ve got presents to unwrap!”

Hank mumbled a response and released him, listening to the boy racing out of the room and pounding down the stairs. Hank sighed and rolled onto his back. He cracked his eyes open and looked at the clock. It was six thirty in the morning.

He groaned and forced himself to get up. He could hear the rusting of paper from downstairs, and he hoped they hadn’t started without him. He got to his feet, staggering a bit. It wasn’t Christmas if you weren’t sleep deprived.

Hank made his way downstairs, holding onto the walls for support. Kara raced into the hallway as he reached the bottom step. 

“C’mon!” she said. “We’ve already been through our stockings.”

“Coffee first,” Hank told her.

Kara groaned and ran back to the living room. Hank shuffled into the kitchen and started making a pot of coffee. Connor sat by the table, a pile of candy wrappers before him. He was sucking on a lollipop and scratching Sumo’s belly.

“Guess you don’t need any breakfast, huh?” Hank asked, laughing a little. Connor shook his head.

With coffee in hand, Hank walked Connor back to the living room. As soon as Hank sat down on the couch Kara and Markus were ripping into their presents. Connor sat to the side, carefully unfolding the wrappings on his gifts.

“Look at all these sticker books!” Kara squealed. She opened one up and stuck a horse-shaped sticker on Markus’ face. 

“Building block!” Markus said, holding his box up. “Score!”

Hank smiled and drank his coffee, watching the three open their gifts with excitement and joy. After they were done they lay in their pile of wrapping, checking their stacks.

“Looks like you guys missed one,” Hank said. He nodded towards a gift that was sitting behind the tree.

“Actually,” Kara said, smiling at Markus and Connor. “That one’s for you.”

“For me?”

Kara nodded. She grabbed the present and the three of them joined Hank on the couch, Connor crawling into his lip, holding a dog plush tight in his arms.

“We made it ourselves,” Markus said.

“Well, grandma helped a little,” Kara said. “But it was my idea!”

“It was not!” Markus said.

“Was too!”

Hank smiled, opening the present slowly as the two argued. It was a frame separated into three equal pieces. In each section, there was a picture of Markus, Kara, and Connor, with their handprints pressed into a panel of clay.

Hank certainly wasn’t tearing up. Connor tilted his head up. “You like?”

Hank chuckled. “I love.” He wrapped his arms around Markus and Kara, bringing their argument to a conclusion. “And I love all of you.” He gave them each a kiss and held them tight in a hug.

“We love you too, Dad,” Markus said, his face squished against Connor’s arm. “Now let’s eat more candy!”


	31. College Conundrum

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Age 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all, YIKES  
> I'm so so sorry it's been like 8 million years since I've updated this.   
> Second of all, this is not the end, tho it may seem like it. I just felt so bad about how long it's been I wanted to write out the shortest idea I had and get it down. There will be more, and several of them longer.
> 
> Sorry again, thanks for sticking with me. I'll try to update this more regularly again

Hank knocked on the door, waiting for the loud music to turn down before Markus, groaning, opened it. The teen stood there, holding limply to the handle, head hanging back in an exasperated expression.

“Whaaaaat?” he asked.

“Thought we could talk,” Hank said, stepping in.

Markus groaned again, drawing it out for emphasis, and fell into his desk chair, flopping his body back.

“Don’t be so dramatic,” Hank said, crossing his arms and shaking his head at him. “Having practically every school in the nation wanting you is hardly a problem.”

 

“You don’t understaaaaaand,” Markus said, swiveling back and forth, his head bobbing side to side.

Hank shrugged. “So tell me.”

Markus groaned, a sound Hank was quickly tired of. “Josh is going to California to get an education degree, North is moving to New York to help her cousin with that woman’s shelter thing, and Simon! Simon’s going to some school in the middle of nowhere Virginia because, apparently, they have an amazing psych program. And you want me to stay here and go to state and be close and argh! Everyone is just everywhere and it sucks!”

Markus got up, and flopped down onto his bed, holding his pillow to his stomach. 

“Markus, you can’t-”

“I know! I can’t decide my future based on some guy.” He rolled over, sighing dramatically. “But it’s not some guy. It’s Simon you know? Simon. Dad, I love him. I want to marry him and adopt a dozen kids and start a family band!”

Hank chuckled. “That’s not what I was going to say.” He sat down in the desk chair. “Markus, you can’t decide your future based on anyone. Myself included.” Markus blinked at him. “What do you want to study?”

“I haven’t decided. I’m thinking...art...or politics.”

“Quite the wide range there.” Markus nodded. “You should look at schools that offer those kinds of programs. Decide based on that and that alone.”

“But-”

“It’s only four years, Markus. Even if you end up on the other side of the world, you four have a strong bond, that no amount of distance can sever. You’re stuck with them, Markus. And four years won’t change that.”

Markus sat up, leaning against the wall. “You think?”

Hank nodded. “I know.” He turned around, grabbing the stack of pamphlets on the desk. He handed them to Markus. “This is the time to focus on you, Markus. What you want. I know you’ll make the right choice.”

-

After sorting Markus out, Hank went downstairs for a snack, only to be sidelined by Kara running through the door, jumping up and down, screaming.

Hank covered his ears, waiting for her to calm down. “What’s up?”

“I got in!” Kara yelled. She shook a piece of paper in the air. “I’m going to Berkeley!”

Hank bit back his sadness. California was a long ways away. “That’s great!” he said, forcing a smile.

Kara rushed forward, wrapping her arms around his neck and squeezing him tight. “I couldn’t have done it without you, Dad. Thank you.”

Hank didn’t have to force the next smile. He hugged her back, feeling her body vibrate with excitement. He pulled away, wiping away a teary eye. “Well go on then, go tell Luther the good news.”

Kara laughed and raced upstairs. Hank sighed and wandered into the kitchen, debating with himself if it was too early to drink or not.

Connor was sitting on the floor, Sumo laying across his lap.

“Wouldn’t you be more comfortable on the couch?” Hank asked.

“But this is where Sumo fell asleep,” Connor said. He looked down at the slumbering dog. “I don’t have the heart to wake him.”

Hank chuckled softly. “You sent in any applications yet?” he asked. 

“No,” Connor said, his voice soft and his thoughts miles away. “I wasn’t planning on it.”

“Let me guess,” Hank said. “You’re joining the peace corp and going off to Guam or something?”

Connor looked up at him, eyebrows furrowed, head tilted to the side. “No?”

Hank sighed, sliding down to the floor next to Connor. “I hope you have something in mind. Because I love you but I’m not having you sitting around petting Sumo all day when you graduate.”

“That wasn’t my intention.” Hank nudged him on. “I was going to apply to the academy.”

“Like...the police academy?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

Connor looked up to the ceiling, humming a bit. “I want to be a detective.” His attention wandered over to Hank. “Like you.”

Hank felt a tightness in his chest and he had to swallow down the tears that threatened him. “Oh. You do?” 

Connor nodded, a small smile playing on the edge of his lips. Hank shifted to the side, pulling his son into a hug. The movement disrupted Sumo, who got up with a small bark and walked away. Neither of them got up after him.


	32. Can't pet all the dogs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Age 5

Gavin scrunched up his face, studying the magazine rack in the small store. Chloe started to walk away, but he grabbed her by the arm, dragging her back. “No wandering off.”

Chloe groaned. “It’s not my fault you’re taking forever to pick something out.”

“We only get one thing for the plane,” Gavin told her. “I have to make sure I pick the right one.”

“You should just get a coloring book,” Chloe said. She held hers up to him. 

Gavin scoffed at her. “Coloring books are for babies.”

“Yeah? Well, you’re a baby so it’s perfect.”

“You little-”

Chloe squealed and ran off, Gavin chasing after her. They wound their way through the crowds of people, stopping only when they got to their designated gate. Elijah and Hank were sitting next to each other, talking quietly. Markus was on the floor, flipping through a comic book, and Kara was sitting next to him, playing with her doll. Connor sat next to Hank, wide eyes watching the whole of the room.

“Daaaaad,” Chloe called as she raced up to him. “Gavin’s being mean!”

“I am not,” Gavin said, stopping short of the two of them.

“Gavin, be nice to your sister,” Elijah said, barely sparing him a glance.

Gavin huffed and sat down, crossing his arms and scowling. Chloe smiled at him and climbed into the seat next to Connor. She poked his arm but he was busy staring at the security officer who had just walked in.

“Doggy,” he announced, eyes fixated on the German shepherd in the vest that the officer walked around.

“That’s a security dog,” Chloe told him. “They sniff people’s things to make sure you don’t have any,” she dropped her voice to a whisper, “drugs.”

Connor squirmed in his seat a bit. He patted Hank’s hand. “I wanna pet,” he said, sucking on his bottom lip.

“Sorry, kid,” Hank said, wrapping an arm around him. “But that dog’s on the clock. I’m afraid you can’t pet him.”

“No,” Connor whined. “I wanna pet!”

“Oh, boy,” Hank said. “Elijah, you mind watching the kids for a second?”

Elijah nodded and Hank pulled Connor into his arms. The kid started to cry as Hank carried him away. The crowd in the airport looked at him, but he just smiled and nodded at them as Connor started to scream.

He found a little cubby down the hall where a set of water fountains were. He set Connor down, blocking his path every time he tried to run out. Once Connor saw that he wasn’t going to be leaving the cubby, he fell to the floor, his face turning red as he cried.

Hank leaned against the wall, face tired as he watched the boy. Ten minutes later and Connor was quiet, still lying on the floor, still crying, but not quite as vocal.

Hank sat down next to him and Connor slowly got up, climbing into Hank’s lap. Hank hugged him close and gently stroked his hair. He glanced at his watch and smiled.

“Ten minutes,” he told Connor. “That’s a pretty impressive improvement.”

“I wanna pet,” Connor mumbled.

“I know,” Hank said. “But as sad as it is, we can’t pet every dog.”

Connor sniffled and snuggled in closer to Hank. Someone cleared their throat. Hank looked up and saw Gavin standing there. He was looking away, holding out a small stuffed dog toy.

Hank studied him for a second then nudged Connor. Connor looked up at Gavin, then fixated his attention on the toy.

Gavin shook it a little, still not looking at them. “It’s not real or anything. But it’s fluffy or whatever. So just take it already.”

Connor looked up at Hank, who gave him a little nod, before reaching out and grabbing the toy. He petted it a few times, then pulled it close, hugging it and burying his face in the fake fur.

Hank chuckled. “Thank you, Gavin. That was very kind of you.”

“Whatever,” Gavin mumbled, walking away.

Hank and Connor stood up and walked back to their gate. Connor once again saw the security dog, but he just stared at it longingly as he petted his new toy.

Gavin just rolled his eyes and stole a page from Chloe’s book.


	33. Birds and Bees

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kara (14)  
> Markus (17)  
> Connor (19)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have nothing to say for myself  
> poor Hank

Kara (age 14)

Hank knocked on Kara’s door, sighing heavily at just the thought of what he was about to say.

“Come in,” Kara called out. 

Soft pop music was playing and Kara was sitting at her desk, typing away at her laptop. “Hey, dad,” she said over her shoulder. “One sec.

“Hey, kid,” Hank said. He fidgeted a bit, eventually settling down on her bed. 

She finished typing with a flair and turned to him, smiling. “What’s up.”

“Oh god,” Hank mumbled. “Uh, I wanted to talk to you. About, uh, well...about sex.”

“Oh, Dad, gross,” Kara said, making a face. “We really don’t have to do that. I mean, we covered this in school.”

“No, I know,” Hank said, unable to look at her. “But you and Luther seem pretty serious now and I just, I figured it was for the best.”

Kara gave him a soft smile. “Dad, seriously. You don’t have to do this. I know how to be safe. Besides, I’m way too young for that.”

Hank nodded, glancing at her. “Good. You are. But I still think I should say something.”

Kara turned around in her seat. “Okay,” she said, chuckling a bit. “Go on.”

Hank cleared his throat. “You see, uh, sex is a very emotional thing. And, you know, doing it can be a very...special thing.”

Kara raised an eyebrow at him. “Yeah. I know.”

“I just...I want you to be able to talk to me...you know when uh, when you feel that’s a thing you want to maybe do. Once you’re eighteen of course.”

Kara laughed. “Dad, you seriously don’t have to worry about it. It hasn’t even crossed my mind.”

“I know. But one day it will. And, uh, I don’t want you to feel like you can’t talk to me about it cause I’m your dad, you know? I mean,” he sighed softly. “I know you don’t have a mom and I imagine it must be hard to do this kind of stuff. But I will be here for you, no matter how awkward it may be.”

Kara smiled at him. “I know you are, Dad. And I love you for it. I promise, I will always come to you when I need it.”

Hank nodded. “Good. Good. I love you, kid.”

“I love you too, Dad.”

-

Markus (Age 17)

Hank pushed Markus’ door open, noting how it was cracked. Markus was lying face down on his bed, one leg hanging off the side. Hank stepped in.

“So, what made you think hiding Simon in the wardrobe was a good idea?” He chuckled a bit, trying to ease the tension.

“Go away,” Markus said, his voice muffled by the pillows his face was buried in.

Hank sighed, moving to sit down at Markus’ desk. “Look, we need to talk.”

“I don’t want to talk,” Markus said. “I want to mope.”

“Well, you can mope after.” 

Markus groaned, turning on his side, facing the wall, back to Hank.

“Look, Markus, sex is a very emotional-”

“Oh my god, Dad! Stop!” Markus sat up, giving Hank a look. 

“This is important,” Hank told him, face hardening a bit.

“I don’t need a lecture,” Markus said. 

“It’s not a lecture.”

“It sure fucking sounded like one.”

“Hey! You watch your language.”

“Or what? You’ll ground me some more?”

“I get that you’re upset, but this important. So shut up, settle down, and listen.”

Markus scowled, crossing his arms and looking away.

“As I was saying,” Hank said, “Sex is an emotional experience. I trust you to be safe, Markus. I really do. You aren’t stupid and I know that. But sex is about more than just physical pleasure.”

Markus groaned, making a face.

“It’s a commitment, Markus. And it’s one you’re too young to make.”

“Dad, please,” Markus said, rolling his eyes. “This isn’t the stone ages. Casual sex is a thing.”

“Yes, it is. But sex with someone you’re already in a relationship with is something completely different. And Markus, you have to be one hundred percent sure you’re ready for it. Both of you.”

Markus frowned. He looked at Hank a bit. “I love him.”

“I know you do. But the thing is, people can change, especially from when they’re younger. And I wouldn’t want you or Simon to get hurt because of that. You love him now, but you’ve only been dating for a few months. You don’t know if your relationship is strong enough for this yet. It hasn’t been through enough trials.”

“I really think he’s my soulmate,” Markus said, his voice a whisper.

“And that’s great, Markus. But you have to be certain. And that takes time.”

“Yeah. Whatever.”

Hank stood up and patted his son on the head. Markus swatted at him.

“I love you, son,” Hank said. “I know this is hard for you. But both of you are going to appreciate it one day.”

“Whatever you say.”

-

Connor (Age 19)

Hank had to admit, it was a little weird with Markus and Kara off to college. But Chloe was around a lot more often, and she and Connor still managed to make home feel like home.

“Vegetables are all cut,” Chloe said, scooping the carrots and potatoes into the stew cooking on the stove. “I’ll go set the table.”

“You don’t have to do that,” Hank told her. 

“Nonsense. We’re celebrating.” She smiled wide and grabbed Connor’s arm. “It’s not every day your boyfriend passes his academy exams with a perfect score.” She leaned on her toes and kissed Connor’s cheek, bouncing into the dining room.

Hank smiled at his son, noticing the blush on his face. He turned to the stew, stirring it a bit. “Hey uhm, we, uh, we never had the talk have we?”

Connor looked at him, head tilted to the side. “We’ve had lots of talks.”

“I mean the talk,” Hank said. “About sex.”

“Oh. No, we have not talked about sex before.”

“Right. Well uh,” Hank cleared his throat. He had never really thought about having to talk to Connor about that. “Do you have any questions?”

“No. Chloe was perfectly adequate in her instructions.”

Hank dropped the spoon, the wood slipping beneath the surface of the stew. “What?”

“She was very thorough in teaching me when we did it.”

Hank turned to him, hands running through his hair. “You’ve already had sex.”

“Yes.”

“When?”

“Three weeks from tomorrow.” Connor blinked at him. “Why?”

“Okay. Uh, Okay.” Hank ran his hands down over his face. This was an entirely different type of conversation. One he wasn’t prepared for. “Are you, well, are you okay?”

“Nothing’s broken, if that’s what you mean.”

Hank breathed out a laugh. “No. I mean...uh, sex is about emotions. And I just want to make sure you’re okay. And Chloe too. I mean, you’re both young and it can be a very...uh, kind of experience your first time.”

Connor stared at him. “I’m not sure I understand.”

“Uh. You’re sure she’s the one?”

“Absolutely. The idea of being with anyone else is...debilitating.”

“Wow.” Hank looked back down at the stew, trying to use a fork to fish the spoon out. “Okay. That’s...that’s a lot to take in.”

“Are you alright?” Connor asked. “You seem...upset.”

“I just, uh. I guess I wish you had talked to me before,” Hank said. He wiped the spoon off on a towel. 

“I was under the impression that such things were private matters. Not to be discussed.”

“Yeah but I’m your dad,” Hank said. “It’s different.”

“Oh. I see. I promise to alert you in the future.”

“No, no! You don’t have to do that. Just uh...you know. If you ever feel you need to talk about any of that stuff you can come to me okay?”

Connor nodded. “Understood.”

Hank sighed, turning his attention back to the stew. 

“Dad,” Connor said.

“Yeah?”

“I’m glad we’ve had ‘the talk’.”

Hank chuckled. “Yeah, a little late. But yeah.”


	34. Origin Story

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Age 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So  
> I KNOW  
> It's been too long  
> And for that, I appologize.  
> But here is finally the origin of the adoption, aka a lil bit of angst and whole lot of love  
> Also, I know nothing about the cranial development of three year olds nor how the foster system works outside of media and we all know that's completely the truth. So sorry for any inaccuracies
> 
> You may have also noticed that I finally decided to get creative with my titles and name this something other than the super original name of Dad!Hank

Markus still didn’t understand a lot about the world, but he knew something was wrong about this house. The front room looked decent enough as Ms. Jenny dropped him off, and the smiling faces of Mr. and Mrs. Terbly sure seemed genuine. But the ‘playroom’ as it was called looked different from any other playroom he had seen before.

There was a large red carpet in the center of the room, with a pile of colored blocks in the center, and shelves of books and tubs along the walls. There was one window, facing out to the backyard, and it was bared up. 

“So the little tykes don’t fall out and hurt themselves,” he had heard Mrs. Terbly explain.

A little girl Markus’ age was sitting in the corner, a picture book in her lap, and a young boy also their age was lying on his stomach on the rug, playing with the blocks. The door shut behind him as the adults left to talk.

“Hi,” Markus said, waving to them.

The boy didn’t move but the girl glanced at him. “Hi.” Her voice was small and meek, much like herself.

“Uh, I’m Markus,” Markus said, looking at the boy and moving over to the girl.

“Kawa,” the girl said. “And that’s Connow.”

“Hi,” Markus said again to the little boy. He didn’t react. “Uh. Okay.”

“Connow doesn’t tawk vewy much,” Kara explained. “He’s shy.”

“Okay,” Markus said. “I’m gonna go expore.”

Markus wandered over to the door, looking around at the shelves, and reached up, tugging on the handle. It didn’t budge.

“Is locked,” Kara told him.

Markus frowned and knocked on the door. Heels clicked against the hardwood outside and the door flung open, Markus stumbling back and falling down at the force of it.

“What?” Mrs. Terbly snapped at him.

“I-I-I,” Markus stuttered out, unable to process her intimidating figure.

She tsked and rolled her eyes, closing the door. Markus crawled over to the door, tears stinging at his eyes. He pressed his ear against the wood, listening to the mumbling on the other side.

“I can’t believe you convinced me to do this,” Mrs. Terbly said.

“Darling, just think of the check,” her husband replied.

She sighed. “It means little when there’s an extra mouth to feed. We’ll be spending most of that on food.”

“Well, just feed them once a day. They’re small. I’m sure they can’t need that much.”

The two walked away and Markus’ stomach already grumbled in protest. He spun around, quite dramatically, and said, “We gotta get outa here.”

Kara tilted her head at him. “How?”

Markus looked around the room, eyes landing on the bared in space. “The window.” He raced over, hands grabbing the thick metal.

Kara got to her feet and joined him. “But how?” she persisted.

“Uh.” Markus looked back at the room and the objects around him. They had a limited supply of things to work with. “Maybe uh...levrage?” he said.

“Levwage?” Kara asked,

“It’s a thing,” he told her. He grabbed a book and stuck it between the bars. He tugged on one end of the book until it slipped out, falling back to the floor with Markus. 

Markus sat up and cried, at both the pain of falling and the seeming inescapability of the room.

Kara sat down next to him, pulling the book over. “Hewe,” she said, patting his arm. She placed the book in his lap and Markus’ cries quieted to a sniffle. 

They spent the afternoon looking at the different animals, Kara filling Markus in on a lot he didn’t know, until that evening when Mrs. Terbly came in carrying a bag of chips.

She walked to the center of the room and tossed the bag down at Kara. “Here,” she said, as Connor stood up and moved away from her. “Share.”

She clicked away, closing the door on them again. Markus and Kara looked down at the bag with deflated moods and empty bellies.

“C’mon, Connow,” Kara said, beckoning the other boy over. 

Kara divided the bag into three piles and the boys followed her lead of eating slowly so as to make the meal last. It didn’t seem to make much of a difference.

-

Later that night Markus was shaken awake by Connor, who stood over him in the dark room. Markus sat up, his back a little sore from being on the floor. Connor pointed to the door, which was now open. 

“Kara,” Markus said, shaking the sleeping girl next to him.

“Huh, wha?” Kara asked, sitting up and rubbing her eyes.

“Connor got the door open.” Markus got to his feet and ran to the door, investigating it. A small piece of paper, possibly the edge of a book page, had been shoved into the door latch, making it impossible for the lock to operate. 

Markus grabbed Connor’s arms and said, “You genius. Now we can escape.”

“But Mawkus,” Kara said, gingerly following Markus out of the room. “Where?”

“Anywhere but here,” Markus told her. Mr. and Mrs. Terbly were asleep on the couch, a smoke in the air and the tv turned on mute. The three toddlers snuck their way through the living room to the main door, which was unlocked and even cracked open a bit.

Connor grabbed hold of Kara’s arm as they exited the house, the cool night air making them shiver.

“This is a bad idea,” Kara whispered as they started walking down the street.

“Don’t worry,” Markus whispered back. The lampost above them flickered off and the Markus and Kara both screamed, grabbing onto each other in the dark.

“Wherever we going les just Hurwy,” Kara said.

Markus nodded and they continued walking, turning every now and then until they were thoroughly lost and in view of a police car.

Markus gasped. “Police!”

He ran over, Kara dragging Connor along a little more slowly, and banged his hand on the driver’s side window. The officer inside startled and looked down at him. Markus waved and the man got out of the car. 

He was tall, and well built, and was starting to go grey in his hair and beard, though a few patches of blond still dared show.

The man looked around, then knelt down in front of Markus and asked, “Where are your parents?”

“They’re dead,” Markus told him.

The man’s face opened in surprise and he stuttered for a moment before placing a hand on Markus’ shoulder and saying, “Tell me what happened.”

-

“And then she said she was only going to feed us once a day,” Markus said, holding both Hank’s hand as he led the children into the station. Kara was holding his other hand, with Connor attached to her arm.

“The nerve,” Hank mumbled. 

He checked in with reception and led the three into the bullpen, where a familiar woman was standing by his desk, fretting.

“Ms. Jenny!” Markus exclaimed, releasing Hank’s hand and racing up to her. He started speaking to her in speeds that no human would be able to comprehend, explaining everything that Hank had told her over the phone.

“Woah,” Kara said, climbing into Hank’s desk chair and looking over the computer. Connor let go of her arm and sucked on the sleeve of his sweater as he held onto Hank’s hand instead.

“So, what did you find?” Hank asked.

Ms. Jenny shook her head. “They were both on red ice when we got there.”

“Of course,” Hank grumbled. He looked around at the three children. “What’ll happen to them?”

Ms. Jenny sighed. “They’ll have to find new homes. Of course, it’s too late to find anyone for them tonight so there’s a group home a few blocks away that’ll house them until then.”

“Well, I mean, they can stay at my place tonight if that’s the problem.”

Markus gasped, looking up at him. “Oh yeah!” he said. “Sleepover!”

Ms. Jenny chuckled at him then turned a serious eye to Hank. “Are you qualified to foster children, Lieutenant?”

“I’ve got a house?” Hank replied. “And...food?” He furrowed his eyebrows at her and shook his head a little.

“In order for me to release these children into your care, you have to have been inspected and approved by an agent.”

“Well, aren’t you one?” Hank asked.

“Yes.”

“So inspect me.”

“It’s not that simple. There are forms to fill out, home inspections to take place, it’s more than just saying you look the part.”

“Right, because all of those inspections and paperwork stopped people like the Terbly’s from fostering.”

Ms. Jenny scowled at him and took Connor’s hand, pulling him away. The toddler screamed, attracting the attention of everyone in the room, but didn’t seem to upset the woman much. 

“Good night, Mr. Anderson,” she said, dragging Connor away, the other two sheepishly following. “If you wish to foster children, you may follow the proper procedures tomorrow morning.”

And that’s exactly what Hank did.

Once he had been approved, he was able to get Kara and Connor from the group home, as they hadn’t been placed with a new family yet. Markus, however, had already been sent to a new home, but Hank wasn’t going to give up. He was going to fight until all three of the lost and scared children who had shown up at his patrol car last night found a safe home with him.

Fowler sat with him one day, watching him with concern as he poured over paperwork. Kara and Connor were in the living room, laughing along to some cartoon show.

“I don’t get it,” Fowler said, watching his friend mumble. “Why are you trying to so hard for this?”

“It’s just something I have to do.”

Fowler was quiet for a moment then said, “You can’t replace him, Hank.”

Hank sighed, closing his eyes against the endless drabble of legal terms. “I know. That’s not...that’s not what I’m trying to do.”

“Then what?”

Hank sat back, rubbing at his eyes. “I can’t stop thinking about what would have happened if it was me who died instead. If it was me and my wife gone and Cole left behind. When I saw them that night, I just kept seeing Cole, scared and alone. And I know I would want him to find someone who would genuinely care for him.”

“Who’s to say this new family Markus is in, won’t?” Fowler asked.

Hank sighed. He was, of course, right. Hank cleaned up the mess of papers and went to spend the afternoon with his two new chargers, who were all giggles and sunshine.

A week later and Hank got a call saying Markus had bit one of the members in his new household and was needing to be rehomed. Hank could barely contain his excitement as he waited for Markus to be dropped off.

“Police!” Markus shouted, laughing as he ran past Ms. Jenny and up the sidewalk. 

Hank met him halfway, scooping the kid up into a hug. 

“Congratulations, Mr. Anderson,” Ms. Jenny said. “And thank you for doing it properly,” she added, with a smirk.

“Far be it from me to avoid paperwork,” Hank said.

“Bye, Ms. Jenny,” Markus said, waving to her as she got back in her car and drove off.

“Alright, kid,” Hank said, adjusting his grip and carrying Markus up to the house. “Your delinquent friends are waiting for ya inside. And no biting.”

Markus chuckled. “Okay.” 

He looked up at the grand new home. He didn’t know much about the world, still, but he knew there was something perfect about this house.


	35. Easter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Age 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My family is in that weird stage where the kids are too old to do egg hunts but too young to have their own kids to do it for so pardon me while I get nostalgic.

Markus knocked on Kara’s door. She glanced down at her clock, noting the late time and shuffled over to the door. “What?” she asked, rubbing her eyes and squinting at him.

“I have a plan,” Markus whispered. He slipped inside and gently shut the door behind her.

“What kind of a plan?”

“For tomorrow. You and me are gonna team up and take Connor down.”

Kara rose an eyebrow at him and frowned. “Take Connor down?”

“Yes! Too long he has reigned supreme in the egg hunting battle. But not this year! This time you and I are gonna win!”

“Markus, you’re insane. Besides, there can only be one winner. How are we both gonna win?”

“Well, obviously only one of us wins. But we both win because Connor loses.”

Kara scowled at him. “You’re terrible.” Markus opened his mouth but she cut him off. “No, you’re a terrible brother and a horrid person.”

“You don’t understand, Kara.” Markus grabbed her arms. “I need that giant chocolate bunny!”

Kara shook him off. “What is your problem? Connor always shares with us anyway.”

“It’s the principle of the matter!”

“Good-night, Markus.” Kara opened her door and waved him out.

“Just, you know, let me know if you see any of my eggs,” Markus said as she shoved him out. “And I’ll do the same.”

“No.”

“Oh come on!”

Kara closed the door on him and he frowned, slumping back to his room.

-

That morning the three sat at the top of the stairs, arms squished together, waiting for the all clear from Hank that they were ready to go. Markus glanced between Kara and Connor, determination in his eyes. Kara shook his head at him while Connor stared at the base of the steps, patiently waiting.

Hank appeared and the three sat forward a bit. 

“Careful on the stairs,” Hank warned them. They nodded. “Everyone know your colors?”

“Green,” Markus said.

“Purple,” Kara said.

“Yellow,” Connor said.

“Then have at it.”

Hank stepped to the side and the three took off down the stairs, Kara and Markus pushing against each other while Connor followed behind them. They took off in three different directions, Markus going for the dining room first. He found a purple egg taped to one of the table legs, a yellow one nestled along with the centerpiece. After a few more seconds of searching, he emerged victorious with a green egg hidden in the china cabinet.

He moved on to the kitchen where Kara was standing on a stool, digging a purple egg out of the corner cabinet.

“Hey,” Markus said, looking around for Connor. “One of your eggs is taped to the table leg.”

Kara stepped down and smiled at him. “Gee, thanks,” she said, skipping off to the next room.

“Did you see any of mine?” Markus asked after her.

“Nope!”

Markus groaned and went back to hunting. By the time he made his way to the living room Connor was already sitting on the couch, easter basket in hand, legs swinging a bit as he sucked on a lollipop.

“You’ve got to be kidding!” Markus said, hands on his hips, staring at him.

Connor just nodded to his pile of eggs on the table. Markus grumbled at him and went back to looking. At least he could still beat Kara.

Or so he thought.

“I think you miscounted,” Markus said, after his third sweep through the house.

Hank looked up at him from the chair. “I don’t miscount,” he told him.

“Well, you must have this year. Cause I’ve been looking for like, an hour and I only have 19. I think you forgot one.”

“Maybe you just aren’t looking hard enough,” Kara suggested, already chewing on her third of the bunny that Connor had given her.

Markus squinted at her.

“Tell me what you’ve already found,” Hank said. 

“No,” Markus said, crossing his arms. “I can find it.”

Another hour later and he was still looking. 

“Just let dad help you, idiot,” Kara said, watching Markus search through the DVD shelves for the tenth time.

“Never,” Markus said.

“Whatever.” Kara got up and went to check on the lunch Hank was cooking in the kitchen. 

Connor looked over at her seat, head tilted slightly, blinking at the green egg that was squished in the cushions.

“Markus,” he said, pointing at it.

Markus spun around, eyes zeroing in on the egg. His face darkened and he stomped over, grabbing the egg and following after her. Connor slipped off the couch and followed him.

“Dad!” Markus said, starling the man a bit. “Kara cheated!” He held the egg up as proof.

Kara patted her pocket and grimaced. “Oops.”

Hank looked between them and sighed, wiping his hands off on a towel. “Kara, did you take one of Markus’ eggs?”

“Well, yeah,” she said. Then she pointed at him. “But he was going to try and cheat so he could beat Connor.”

Hank furrowed his eyebrows at Markus. “You were?”

“He wins every year!” Markus explained. “I just wanted to beat him for once.”

“And cheating was going to do that?”

“Well...it seemed like a good idea last night.”

Hank sighed and knelt down a bit. “You guys know cheating is wrong. Markus, wouldn’t beating Connor be more satisfying if you did it on your own?”

Markus frowned and looked down at the ground. “I guess.”

“You know,” Hank said, patting his shoulder a bit.

Markus nodded and turned back to Connor. “Sorry I tried to cheat.” Connor just smiled and nodded at him.

“And I’m sorry I stole your egg, Markus,” Kara said.

“That’s alright. I was being a bit of a jerk.”

“A bit?”

Hank chuckled and got up, reaching above the fridge to hand Markus’ basket to him. 

The three returned to the living room to see what kind of goodies Markus got in his basket. Connor broke the remaining bunny body in half and handed part of it to Markus.

“Still?” Markus asked. “Even though I tried to cheat you out of it.”

Connor nodded. Markus smiled at him and took the hunk of chocolate. “Thanks, Con.”

The three siblings sat on the couch, content, and totally spoiling their appetites.


	36. Bikes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Age: 7

“It’s okay, Connor,” Hank said, holding one handle and the back of the bike. 

Connor sat in the seat, feet planted firmly on the ground, dressed to the nines in padding and covers. He whimpered a bit.

“C’mon, Con,” Markus said, whizzing past on his neon-green bike. “It’s easy!” He went to turn around on the park runway and wavered a bit, the front wheel turning too far to the side. The back wheel slipped out and Markus landed on the floor.

There was a deep bark and Sumo came bounding over, tail wagging as he sniffed at Markus and licked his face.

“I’m fine, Sumo,” Markus said, giggling a bit as he pushed the giant dog off and got to his feet. He picked his bike back up and got on again, Sumo chasing after him as he wheeled away.

Connor whimpered again and shrunk into Hank’s side. Hank sighed and patted the kid on his helmet. “You got this,” he whispered. “I won’t let go until you tell me, okay?”

Kara pulled up next to him, her purple glitter bike sparkling in the sun. “I’ll ride with you,” she said. “You’ll see, you pick it up quick!”

Connor nodded slowly and sat back up straight.

“Alright,” Hank said, readjusting his grip. “Let’s go.”

They took off slow, Kara wobbling a bit as Hank pushed Connor down the park path. 

“You gotta use the pedals, kid,” Hank said, stifling a chuckle as Connor’s legs simply hung to the side.

Connor whimpered a bit and stuck his feet on the pedals, his legs being moved by them more than the other way around. They circled once or twice, Markus whizzing ahead of them, laughing in the breeze.

“You ready to try it on your own?” Hank asked. Connor shook his head violently so Hank just nodded and continued pushing him along. 

They circled around a few more times but eventually, Hank stopped. “Alright, well, first step accomplished. Get used to bike.”

Connor put his feet on the ground and Hank let go, breathing a little heavily. “We’ll try again next week, hm?”

Connor nodded a bit and Hank called out to Markus that it was time to go home.

“Coming!” Markus called back. He spun around and started biking back. He made it halfway before he lost control and rolled off again.

Sumo bounded over, flopping down on Markus. 

 

“Augh! Sumo, get off.”

Hank laughed and jogged over to help pull the mass of dog off.

-

Markus rubbed at his sleepy eyes, staring at the open door to the garage. He scratched his head, staring at the light coming through. He peeked his head in, expecting to see some kind of burglar to something. But it was just Connor. Flashlight on the floor, dressed in all his padding, white fingers gripping the bike handlebars.

“Connor?” Markus asked, rubbing his eyes to make sure he wasn’t dreaming.

Connor frowned, his head hanging. “Can’t do it.”

Markus bit his lip. “Sure you can! C’mon.” He walked over to the line of bikes and pulled out his green one, placing his helmet over his bed head. 

Connor got off his bike and they walked through the house and out the front door, the street dark save for the circles of illumination from the streetlamps. Markus got up on his bike and waited for Connor to do the same. The other kid wobbled a bit but managed to get up again, his face distraught.

“Just do as I do,” Markus pushed off the street and rolled forward a bit before putting his feet back down. He looked back at Connor.

Connor’s face tightened and he pushed forward, squealing a bit as he wobbled forward.

“Good!” Markus said. “Again.” 

They pushed forward until they were at the end of the street. Then they turned their bikes around. 

“Okay, now this.” Markus pushed forward, using one leg to push the highest pedal down before stopping again. 

Connor gave him a wary look, but it turned to surprise and pride as he pulled up next to Markus.

“See? You got it. A few more times.” They half-pedaled back down the street. 

“Now,” Markus said, turning around. “The real deal.” He pushed off and started pedaling, rolling his way down the street. Connor whimpered and didn’t move. “C’mon you can do it! You’re the con-man! Nothing can stop you!”

Connor tightened his grip on the handlebars and closed his eyes as he pushed off. His feet found purchase on the pedals and he was off, rolling inch by inch down the street. He opened his eyes, surprised to find he was wobbling but still upright, his legs pushing the wheels forward.

He started laughing and Markus wheeled up to him. “See? I told you!”

Connor’s bike started to wobble more as he moved the handlebars and he screamed a bit, putting his feet down quickly and coming to a stop.

The porch light turned on and Hank came running out.

“What’s going on?” he asked. “What happened. Are you okay?”

“Dad, dad, look!” Markus said, pointing excitedly to Connor. “Connor rode his bike!”

Hank pulled up to them, staring at the two with sleepy and confused eyes. “What?”

“I did it!” Connor said. He got off, letting the bike fall to the ground and grabbed at Hank’s shirt. “I did it!”

Hank sighed a chuckle of relief and hugged him. “I’m really proud of you,” he said.

“And I helped,” Markus said, grinning widely.

“I’m proud of you too,” Hank told him. “Now, it’s the middle of the night. So what say we put the bikes away and get back in bed?”

“But, but,” Connor started.

“No buts,” Hank said, picking his bike up. “You can ride it more tomorrow, okay?”

Connor pouted but followed Hank and Markus back into the house. They placed his little yellow bike between Kara’s and Markus’. He looked over at the discarded training wheels in the corner and went to bed with a smile on his face.


End file.
